Time Less Traveled
by theunnamedGryffindors2
Summary: My version of a characters read the series, I know it's been done before but I felt like doing my own. This is my first story so please be nice. Rated T just in case.
1. Starting the book

**Disclaimer: The words below belong to the wonderful J. K. Rowling. They are her's not mine no matter how much I wish they were mine.**

* * *

><p>There was a knock on the door. Harry Potter went to answer it. On the front door step of his and Ginny's house in Godric's Hallow there was a large package. He took it to the dining room table when his wife, brother-in-law Ron, and Ron's wife Hermione walked in.<p>

"What's that Harry?" Ron asked. Harry went to the kitchen to grab some scissors.

"Dunno. But I'm about to find out." He opened it. Inside there were seven books a note and a time turner. Harry skimmed the note quickly once he was finished a grin was on his face.

"What's the note say Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry ignored her and looked straight at Ginny.

"Grab James. We're going on a little trip that's very important." Ginny didn't say anything. Instead she went upstairs to grab the sleeping toddler.

"Harry what did that note say? Harry answer me. You're starting to freak us out." Ron was starting to slip into auror mode. Harry just smiled at him and Hermione.

"You're coming too. You didn't think I would leave you now did you?" Just then Ginny came back down the stairs carrying a very sleepy toddler with black hair that was all over the place and that stuck up at the back. The little boy also had brown eyes like his mom. He was still in his blue pajamas with a wolf, and a stag on the front of the shirt and little black dogs all over the pants. Ginny also grabbed the navy blue diaper bag.

"What's going on Harry?" She thought he'd gone crazy.

"I can't say until after we pick up everyone else because Hermione would try to stop me. So first we are going to pick up some people and then head on over to the Burrow."

"Harry why would we need to go to the Burrow? We just saw my parents yesterday. Besides if you are so determined to go to the Burrow then why don't we just floo there?" Ron too, was starting to think that Harry had gone crazy. Harry just motioned for them to come closer. Once they were all standing close to him he grabbed the package and said,

"Dumbledore's office 1977" all of a sudden they were spinning. They landed in a room with lots of silver objects, and a bird with red feathers. A man was standing there too. A man with half rimmed spectacles and a beard down to his waist. Harry was the first to say anything.

"Dumbledore." He said softly. Dumbledore nodded. Harry continued. "Sir we come from the future. By going back we hope to save many lives. Also we hope to destroy Lord Voldemort once and for all, and to insure that he may never return. However we require the assistance of a Miss Lily Evans and a Mister James Potter."

"I see and why would you need those two in particular?" He said with a slight gleam in his eyes.

"They died. I hope that with the knowledge I can give them then they may be spared." Dumbledore nodded then left. He returned shortly with a tall black haired boy and a red headed girl behind him. They were arguing, most likely about whose fault it was that the headmaster wanted to talk to them.

"Thank you sir. Now I know it's a lot to ask but if it's possible, ten years from today could you send Remus Lupin to the Burrow. It's imperative that he comes from that time period." Harry told him.

"I'll see to it."

"Thank you sir." Harry picked up the package again. "The Burrow 1987" They were spinning again. They landed in the garden. A red haired man was walking out to greet him.

"Ah you must be the time travelers that Dumbledore warned us would be coming. Well welcome. Remus just arrived shortly before yourselves. So, as the muggles would say, shall we get this show on the road?" Arthur Weasley said rather enthusiastically. He led them inside.

"Thanks da-" Ron started but Harry stomped on his foot and shook his head. "I mean thanks Arthur." James automatically notice his old pal Moony and went over to him. Remus went pale at the sight of him and his eyes widened when he saw Lily.

"Moony what's the matter with you? You look like you've just seen a ghost." James pointed out. Harry cut off Remus.

"Why don't we take our seats and then we can get started?" Harry said as he sat on the couch. Ginny sat next to him with baby James on her lap. Hermione sat next to her, and Ron sat next to Hermione. Remus sat on the love seat across from the couch. James sat next to Moony and the Weasleys filled in the rest of the spots creating a circle. Lily went to sit in between Percy and Charlie but Harry stopped her.

"Lily, I think you should sit with James." Harry said casually. Lily shot him a death glare but he just looked at Remus and shifted his bangs a little so that Remus could see his scar. Remus' eyes widened when he saw it. He added as innocently as he could, "Don't you agree Moony?" Remus smiled as the marauder in him sensed a matchmaking opportunity.

"Why of course Mini-P. Lily take my spot next to Jamsie here on the love seat. I'll take the spot between the young Weasleys. Now I insist and it would be pointless for you to argue with me." Remus stated and he pushed ever so slightly on Lily's shoulders forcing her to sit next to James.

"Well now that we are all situated let's start." Harry took out the first book.

**Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**


	2. The Boy Who Lived

**Author's note I underlined the future Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny so they're easier to tell apart. I don't own the bold words other than those that I'm typing here in this note now on with the story.**

* * *

><p><strong>The Boy Who Lived<strong>

"Wait who lived and why's he called that?" James asked

"I have a feeling the book will explain if, uh, if Mini-P here can continue." Ron told him, stumbling over calling Harry Mini-P instead of Harry.

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four Privet Drive were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

"No nonsense makes no sense."

"I couldn't agree more with you Freddy my twin." Stated George.

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.**

_That sounds like Tuney_, Lily thought to herself.

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley, and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

"He must be a git."

"William! Watch your language there happen to be young children in the room." Mrs. Weasley scolded her eldest son.

"Gi'" yelled little James obviously proud of having learned a new word.

"Thank you Bill, for teaching my son foul language." Ginny said to Bill before she went on to scold James.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"What's wrong with the Potter's? We are wonderful people." James stated with a touch of anger in his tone.

"I agree with that statement." Ginny whispered so low that only Harry could hear her. His face almost matched the red of his wife's hair.

"Daddy aw wed." James said, his statement then sent him into peals of laughter.

"That's right James." Ron said. Then he sighed, Harry's dad was going to think something was up.

"That boy, his name is James? Just like me?" James was staring at little James.

"Uh, well I was planning on explaining everything after chapter one so please be patient." Harry told him.

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years;**

_That defiantly sounds like me and Tuney. Could it be that I, Lily Evans, would ever fall prey to James bloody Potter? And that I could also marry said boy?_ Lily thought to herself.

**in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister,**

_Well I knew she hated me but I didn't think she would take it that far._ Lily thought.

**because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"A child like what? Any child of a Potter would be a wonderful addition to any family. Their son would be lucky to be able to mingle with a Potter." James said defiantly.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke upon the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts,**

"Liar. The story started a while ago." said a much younger version of Ron. Ron's ears went red for this was the statement he was about to make himself.

**there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work,**

"Why on Earth-" Started Fred.

"Would you want-" George added.

"To pick out a boring tie?" The said together. Everyone started grinning, though it was only half-heartedly for the time travelers. Even though it had been almost six years since the war the four time travelers still missed Fred.

**and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair. None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window. At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke" chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house.**

"I cannot believe he could condone that sort of behavior." Mrs. Weasley was astonished.

**He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive. It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar - a cat reading a map.**

"MINNIE!" James yelled. Remus rubbed his ears. It was times like that, that he really hated having supersensitive hearing.

"Prongs must you yell?"

"Sorry Moony but it's Minnie. In fact I bet you a galleon it's Minnie."

"Fine I'll take that bet. Anyone else want in on the action?" Remus looked around the room.

"Yeah sure. I'm in. A galleon says it's McGonagall." Ron said.

"I agree with Remus and say that it's not McGonagall." Said Hermione. Harry just grinned, he realized that Remus was starting to get used to having James around again, and kept reading.

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen - then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of?**

"Oh I don't know maybe something we like to call magic." Charlie said sarcastically.

**As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign the sign that said Privet Drive - no looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.**

"Well Moony and girl who agrees with Moony, I must say this cat is starting to sound an awful lot like Minnie." James said quite happily.

"I happen to have a name by the way James. It's Hermione." Hermione shot him a glare that would rival McGonagall's. James coward with fear.

"Sorry." He muttered.

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward the town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day. But on the edge of town drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.**

"What's so strange about someone wearing a cloak? I've seen muggles wearing them before." James said quite indignantly.

"Potter," Both Harry and James looked up. Harry quickly realized that Lily was speaking to James so he quickly put his head back down before anyone noticed. Or so he thought, Remus had noticed. Not that Remus would say anything about it. Though he wondered why Harry would respond to his last name in such a manner. Whenever he visited his parents always called him Harry. Or he and Sirius used to call him Mini-Prongs or Prongslet. No one had ever called him Potter. "Potter I don't count. You are aware of that aren't you?"

"Of course Lady Lily."

"Don't call me that." Remus started signaling to Harry to continue reading like a mad man. Obviously he didn't want to listen to Lily and James argue.

**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes - the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these wierdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him!**

"I know supporting Slytherin like that." Cried Ron which earned him a whack on the head from Hermione.

**But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously colleting for something . . . yes that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills. Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed,**

"That's not very smart. Someone's going to end up with quite a mouthful." Said George.

**as owl after owl swoop overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at night time. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he decided he would stretch his legs a bit and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery. He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy.**

"Anybody who's different makes them uneasy" Ginny muttered.

**This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard-"**

"**- Yes their son Harry-"**

"What about Harry?" Asked Lily sitting up a little straighter. It was obvious to Harry that she had figured out that she married James not that she was about to admit it.

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it. He dashed back across the road, hurried, up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking . . . no, he was being stupid.**

"Finally he admits it!" Bill exclaimed. Mrs. Weasley glared at him.

**Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might've been Harvey. Or Harold.**

"I like the name Harry better than those names." Said a younger Ginny. Ginny from the future blushed. Harry just smiled at her.

**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if he'd had a sister like that . . . but all the same, those people in cloaks . . . He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

**"Sorry,"**

"I wasn't aware that he knew that word." Ron muttered so low only the time travelers could hear. Harry looked at Ron and whispered,

"Shocking isn't it. I wasn't aware either and I lived under the same roof for sixteen years. Harry didn't know it but Remus was listening and was concerned. He knew that Harry had been sent to live with his aunt and uncle but why is it he wouldn't know that his uncle could apologize, I mean everyone has to say sorry at one point or another right?

**he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passerby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!" And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off. Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He was hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle whatever that was.**

"Non-magic person."

"Thanks for stating the obvious Perce." Charlie smiled at his little brother.

**He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things,**

"Wow and you said he didn't believe in imagination" Ron looked at Harry astonished.

"You honestly think he would've told me about this incident?" Harry told Ron equally as astonished. Lily was starting to piece things together to by paying attention to the time travelers' comments. Why would this man live with her sister and a man who didn't believe in imagination, and what's with the bolt of lightning on his forehead that he's trying to hide with his bangs?

**which he had never hoped for before, because he didn't approve of imagination. As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

"I have to admit this cat is defiantly starting to sound like Minnie. Darn it. All I have in my pocket today is enough to cover the bet." Remus said shaking his head.

**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to say anything to his wife. Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't"!).**

"That sort of behavior leads to a spoiled child." Mrs. Weasley stated. Oh if she had any idea, Harry thought to himself with a grin.

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normal. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news: "And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping patterns." The newscaster allowed himself a grin.**

"Something tells me he knows more then he's letting on."

"Gosh Bill you're starting to sound-"

"Like Mad-Eye Moody."

"Honestly Fred and George why must you finish each other's sentences all the time it gets to be rather annoying."

"Aww Lighten up a little Perce. You're gonna miss it one day." Ron said before he could stop himself.

**"Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be anymore showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

**"Well, Ted,"**

"Ted? You don't think-?" Ron started.

"Could be didn't she mention her dad was-?" Hermione supplied.

"Yes it's him." Harry told them both.

"How do you know?" Ginny asked him.

"She told me. Before - well I'll just continue reading." He looked at everyone else who were watching the four of them with the utmost attention. "Seventh book."

**said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight." Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters . . . Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er - Petunia,**

"NO." Yelled Lily. "Do you people mean to tell me that I marry, marry, that?" She pointed to James.

"I knew it. Admit it Lily you love and adore me and you worship the ground I walk on."

"In your dreams Potter."

"Actually Lily, not only do you marry James but you have a baby with him." Remus said gently. "A baby named Harry James Potter."

"No it can't be." Lily thought back on all that had happened so far. The biggest question eating at her was did she fancy James? I mean sure he was cute and he could be charming, but he was a trouble maker. And he had a head larger than a car.

"Don't fret over it, uh, Lily. His head supposedly deflates during your seventh year." Harry told her as if he could hear her thoughts and concerns.

"If it's any consolation to you Lily, Harry's adorable, and you loved him right until the end. He was a very happy energetic boy. And he was very smart too." Remus told her. Slowly Lily was coming to grips with what had happened. She did love James, and she would love her son Harry too. James caught something that Lily didn't though.

"Moony why are you speaking in past tense?" He said quietly. Remus looked towards Harry for answers.

**dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately have you?" As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

Lily took in a deep breath. James put his hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner and was pleasantly surprised when she didn't glare at him or hex him and just let him keep his hand there. Maybe these books wouldn't be so bad if Lily doesn't hate me anymore. I guess I just need to tone down the ego a bit even if most of the time it's just for show anyway. James thought to himself

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls . . . shooting stars . . . and there were a lot of funny looking people in town today. . . "**

**"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

**"Well, I just thought . . . maybe . . . it was something to do with . . . you know . . . her crowd." Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her if he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said as casually as he could, **

**"Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now wouldn't he?"**

**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it" **

**"Harry. Nasty common name, if you ask me."**

"I happen to like the name Harry." Lily stated.

"Yeah. Besides it's ten times better than Dudley." James chuckled. To his surprise so did Lily.

**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree." He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet drive as though it were waiting for something. Was he imagining things?**

"You don't have enough of a heart to be able to imagine." Ginny said quietly as she rubbed baby James' back. He had fallen asleep. This comment worried both Lily and Remus.

**Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did . . . if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it. The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake turning it all over in his mind. His last comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind. . . . He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawned and turned it over - it couldn't affect them. . . . How very wrong he was.**

"Should I be worried?" asked Remus.

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinking on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all. A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground.**

"I bet that's Dumbledore." Percy stated. Just then there was a knock on the door. Mr. Weasley went to open it.

"Why Professor Dumbledore what an unexpectedly pleasant surprise seeing you here. And to what do we owe this pleasure sir?" Mr. Weasley led Dumbledore into the living room where everyone was seated.

"Well, you see Arthur, as it so happens ten years ago I had quite the visit from these people from the future who wanted me to send Remus here and who also requested the presence of James and Lily Potter though when they came they were still James Potter and Lily Evans. Now I presume we are reading something what might it be called and where are we in the plot? I do hope you don't mind if I stay, for my curiosity was peaked ten years ago and I've been looking forward to this for quite some time now."

"Well sir we've only just started. This is the story of Harry Potter. A man has just appeared on the corner of Privet Drive. Please come in and sit and I'll continue." Harry said quite matter of factly.

**The cat's tail twitched and its' eyes narrowed. Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver in his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

"Well done young Weasley." James congratulated Percy.

"A most accurate guess indeed young Percival." Remus added. Percy blushed at his name.

"Ignore them. James can't remember anyone's real name he only remembers nicknames and Remus is just a tease." Lily told Percy, attempting to ease his embarrassment. Percy just grinned at her to express his gratitude.

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. **

Ron and Harry smirked.

"I think you enjoy going to places where you're not welcome don't you Professor?" Ron asked the professor.

"Why yes I do rather enjoy that." Dumbledore admitted.

**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which for some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should've known." He found what he was looking for in his side pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter.**

"Have you still got that Ron?" Hermione asked.

"Course I do. It always shows the way back remember? I keep it just in case." Ron told her.

**He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again – the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

"**Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

"WOO! That's a galleon for me, each. Better luck next time Moony and Future girl who agrees with Moony." Prongs said quite excited. Ron just looked smugly at Hermione.

"I have a name." Hermione said as she and Lupin handed over a galleon over to both Prongs and Ron.

"Yes but it's more fun to annoy you by not calling you by your name which I can't even remember so there's no point in telling me again." Hermione's face could rival the Weasley's hair as red as she'd gotten.

"Wow. You've got some nerve to tell her off Prongs." Ron looked at James in utter disbelief at what he just saw. No one in their right mind had ever told off Hermione like that before.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

"**How did you know it was me?" She asked.**

"**My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

"**You'd be stiff if you've been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

"**All day? When you could've been celebrating? I must've passed a dozen feasts on my way here."**

"Something tells me that if she hadn't sat there all day then she wouldn't have seen Professor Dumbledore, but she couldn't take that chance because something must be on her mind." Charlie stated his thinking process.

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

"**Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no – even the muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursley's dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls . . . shooting stars. . . . Well they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent – I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

"**You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

"**I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably.**

"Still people are being quite careless about whatever happened." James pointed out the obvious.

"**But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, **

"Oh my God. James saying the same thing as McGonagall the world is coming to an end." Lily said sarcastically. James glared at her.

"Depends on whose world." Remus muttered to himself, remembering only to clearly what had really happened. Harry looked at Remus as if wanting to comfort him. Harry hadn't heard his comment but could tell what was running through his head.

**Out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors." She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't,, so she went on. "A fine day it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us al. I suppose he really has gone Dumbledore?"**

"**It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

"**A what?"**

"**A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

"**No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops.**

"She has a point in that thought though." Remus muttered.

"**As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -"**

"**My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense – for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort."**

Everyone but the time travelers, Dumbledore, and Remus flinched.

**Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

"**I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."**

"**You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

"Nah you're just too noble like every Gryffindor male I've met." Lily commented.

"**Only because you're too – well – noble to use them."**

"Shocker. Lily still sounds like Minnie." Remus mocked. Lily just glared at him.

"**It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madame Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs." Professor McGonagall threw a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

All the adults in the room minus, James and Lily, tensed.

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore however, was choosing another Lemon drop and did not answer.**

"**What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hallow.**

Remus had closed his eyes at this and was taking deep steadying breaths. James was about to ask what was wrong but thought better of it.

**He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James are – are – that they're – **

Harry paused attempting to keep his voice steady. Lily and James however were holding their breath afraid to know what they were.

**Dead."**

Harry's voice broke at the word. It was still hard for him to hear that even after all these years. Lily was shocked.

"Now I understand why you looked like you had seen a ghost when we came Moony. You sort of _were_ seeing a ghost." James said quietly. Everyone else in the room was just silent the silence was broken by another knock at the door.

"I'll get it Mr. Weasley." Hermione offered. She left and when she came back with a smile on her face and, someone was with her. A tall someone with a round face and dark hair.

"Hi Harry." Neville Longbottom said cheerfully before Harry could signal him to be quite, James spoke.

"Harry? Is that your name? And if you don't mind how do you know him and who exactly are you?" James looked from Harry to Neville.

"Oh I'm Neville, Neville Longbottom. And that's Harry, Harry Potter. Surely you've heard of him haven't you? I mean everyone in our world knows who Harry Potter is. And who might all of you be?" Neville had just noticed that these weren't the Weasleys that he knew from his time.

"We are just learning about him. I'm James Potter and this is my future girlfriend slash wife Lily Evans. Are you related to Frank Longbottom by any chance?"

"Yeah, he's my dad." Neville sounded quite proud as he said this.

"Neville how did you get here?" Harry was trying to send him the message to be quite but Neville wasn't taking the hint.

"Well you see I went over to your house and when I knocked on your door all of a sudden I was spinning and then landed here. And did you say James Potter and Lily Evans? As in your - ?"

" Yes, Neville. Why don't you come and sit with us so we can keep reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and keep quite." Realization about what he had said dawned on Neville, he frowned but went to sit next to Lupin. Everyone but the people from the future and Remus were looking at Neville and Harry.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

"**Lily and James . . . I can't believe it . . . I didn't want to believe it . . . Oh, Albus . . ."**

"Gosh Minnie, I didn't know you cared about me so much. I thought you hated our pranking." James said quietly with a slight smile on his face. He was still having issues dealing with the fact that he was dead and so was Lily and that Neville had called the man reading Harry Potter, which meant that this man was his son.

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know . . . I know . . ." he said heavily.**

"Gosh Professor I didn't know you cared so much too." James sounded shocked.

"It has been rather quite without you and your group of friends pulling pranks every day." Dumbledore responded quite casually.

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But – he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke – and that's why he's gone."**

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

"**It's – it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done . . . all the people he's killed . . . he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding . . . of all the things to stop him . . . but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

"**We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must've made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

"**Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"**

"**I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

"WHAT? WHAT ABOUT REMUS AND SIRIUS?" James yelled. "Why didn't you take him Moony? Why didn't Padfoot take him? Where are the two of you at?"

Remus was on the verge of tears. "I wanted to take him Prongs. I swear to you I did. But – but – oh Prongs, the Ministry wouldn't let me because of my problem. They said I was too dangerous to raise a child and Dumbledore already decided that Harry belonged to his aunt and uncle. And he said we weren't allowed to make any contact at all. Said it was better if he didn't know until he was older. And Padfoot's –" at that Remus couldn't fight it anymore he choked and tears were slowly streaming down his face.

"Padfoot's currently occupied with something else which you'll find out about in the third book." Ron supplied.

"**You don't mean – you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore – you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son – I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

"**It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

"A letter? Did you really think that was the best way to explain that to them? I mean they're going to wake up to see their nephew with no explanation other than a letter. That's not very smart." James said. Lily was impressed at how mature he was being and she had to admit to herself that maybe her feelings towards him were changing and she could actually see herself being with him.

"**A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous – a legend I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future – **

Ron snorted at this, Hermione, Harry, and Neville just smiled.

**there will be books written about Harry – every child in our world will know his name!"**

"**Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boys head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from that until he's ready to take it?"**

"Moony's smart he could've kept Harry's ego in check. Then he would've been in a loving home too. Stupid Ministry, messing up a child's life like this." James grumbled to himself.

"Surely Harry's aunt and uncle love him very much." Dumbledore said calmly. James and Lily just glared at him. Harry had to restrain himself from laughing.

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes – yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

"**Hagrid's bringing him."**

"**You think it – wise – to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"**I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

"**I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to – what was that?"**

Everyone leaned forward in anticipation.

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky – and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them. If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild – long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

"**Hagrid," said Dumbledore sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

"**Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**

"**No problems were there?"**

"**No, sir – house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

All the girls, James, and Remus cooed at that. Harry meanwhile was trying not to blush.

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

"**Is that where -?"**

"**Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**

"**Couldn't you do something about it?"**

"I agree with McGonagall I hate my scar, or well just how people ambush me." Harry commented having figured that Neville already gave away who he was.

"**Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground.**

"Do you really Professor?" young Ron asked.

"I do indeed would anyone like to see it?"

"NO" everyone practically screamed. Dumbledore just shrugged.

**Well –give him here, Hagrid – we'd better get this over with." Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursley's house.**

"**Could I – could I say good bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must've been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

"**Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"**

"**S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it – Lily an' James dead – an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles –"**

"**Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found out," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets and then came back to the other two.**

"YOU LEFT HIM ON THE DOOR STEP! HE'S JUST A BABY!" Lily, Molly, James, Remus, and Arthur yelled at Dumbledore.

"If he hadn't then they wouldn't have taken me." Harry told them.

"Then you could've come to me or the Weasleys which is where you should have been in the first place." Remus said quite peeved at the thought of his pseudo-nephew being left on a doorstep.

**For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

"**Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

"**Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall – Professor Dumbledore, sir." Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

"**I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply. Dumbledore turned and walked down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

"**Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone. A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you'd expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up.**

All the girls cooed.

**One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up glasses and saying in hushed voices : "To Harry Potter – the boy who lived!"**

"And that's the end of chapter one." Harry announced. "So I guess we should introduce ourselves. I'll start then. I'm Harry Potter as my friend Neville said earlier and these are books written about my life. Next." He looked at Ginny.

"Right. I'm Ginny Potter, born Weasley. We've been married for almost four years. This is our son James, he's almost two, which means you can't kill Harry." She glared at all her brothers meanwhile young Ginny just looked dumbstruck.

"I'm Hermione Weasley, born Granger. I'm one of Harry Potter's best friends, and yeah that's about it."

"Uh, I'm Ron Weasley. I married Hermione I'm Harry's other best friend. So yeah, hi mum." He finished by looking at his mom and gave a slight wave.

"I'm Bill. I'm seventeen."

"I'm Charlie and I'm fifteen."

"I'm Percy, and I start Hogwarts this year."

"I'm James Potter. I'm currently seventeen, but right now I'm dead. My nickname is Prongs and I'm a Marauder. I also marry Lily Evans the love of my life, and I'm a big prankster."

"I'm Lily Evans, although I guess you all know me as Lily Potter. I don't know how that could've happened because the only Marauder I ever saw as civil was Remus."

"We're Gred and Forge. We like to finish each other's sentences –" started George

"And pull pranks on people. We're nine years old." Finished Fred.

"I'm Remus Lupin. I too am a Marauder, and the most sensible one in some ways. My nickname is Moony."

"I'm Neville Longbottom. I'm friends with the Golden Trio, which is Harry, Ron, and Hermione's nickname in the future. Currently I teach Herbology at Hogwarts, and I proudly show off my DA coin to any student who asks. I presume that you'll find out what the DA is in the fifth book so don't ask. My parents are Frank and Alice Longbottom. I was raised by my Gran, but I'd rather not get into that story."

"Right I'm Ron Weasley. I'm seven years old, and they aren't really Gred and Forge they're Fred and George. They just think they're being funny."

"I'm Ginny Weasley. I'm six years old."

"I'm Molly Weasley."

"Arthur Weasley, I work at the Ministry in one of the most fascinating departments, The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department."

"I suppose I'm last then. I'm Albus Dumbledore, though it seems all of you already know who I am so I suggest we start the next chapter." Ginny took the book and Harry took James.


	3. The Vanishing Glass

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter. Harry Potter belongs to the wonderful J. K. Rowling.**

* * *

><p><strong>The Vanishing Glass<strong>

"Is this the zoo –?" Ron started to ask Harry but cut off and grinned when he saw Harry nod.

"Excellent." He said as a grin spread across his face. "Sorry Gin, had to ask. Continue."

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursley's front door; it crept into the living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls.**

"I think we should pay them a visit, what do you think George?"

"I was thinking exactly the same thing Freddie."

"You boys won't be going anywhere anytime soon." Mrs. Weasley snapped at them.

**Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what appeared to be a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets – but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign that another boy lived in the house, too**

"That had better mean that either Moony or the Weasley's or Padfoot came and got him." Prongs said quite angrily. " Prongs said quite angrily. Harry just shifted a tad awkwardly in his seat.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there,**

"Damn." James muttered. Lily smacked him upside the head.

"Watch your mouth, your grandson's a little copycat and I will not stand for you teaching him how to swear."

"Don't say it like that. This time-travel thing is screwing with my head."

**Asleep at the moment but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.**

"**Up! Get up! Now!" Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

"**Up!" She screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had the funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"That's impressive that you can remember that." Percy said in awe.

**His aunt was back outside the door.**

"**Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

"**Nearly," said Harry.**

"**Well get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

Everyone chuckled at Dudley's nickname.

"How long had they made you cook?" James asked Harry.

"Since I could see what I was doing, but I didn't mind cooking." Harry said with a shrug. James just nodded and then looked like he was deep in thought.

**Harry groaned.**

"**What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**

"**Nothing, nothing . . ." Dudley's birthday – how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them,**

Both Rons shuddered at the mention of spiders. Fred looked at them ashamed.

**Put them on. Harry was used to spiders,**

"Your used to them? No wonder you had it so easy second year." Ron whispered to Harry.

"I wouldn't say I had it easy." Harry smirked at him.

"You know what I mean."

**Because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them,**

Harry tensed. He knew what was coming and it wouldn't be a pretty sight when it did.

**And that was where he slept.**

"MY SON SLEEPS IN A CUPBOARD UNDER THE STAIRS?" James and Lily both cried out in rage.

"YOU TOLD ME HE WOULD BE SAFE AND LOVED ALBUS! HE DOESN'T SOUND LOVED TO ME! YOU PROMISED ME THAT HE WOULD BE LOVED!" Remus rounded on Dumbledore, Dumbledore meanwhile only looked mildly surprised. Molly and Arthur as well as the rest of the Weasley's were too outraged to speak, they were silently fuming though.

"You listen here Dumbledore and you listen good. I want my son out of that house immediately. I don't care about whatever protective charms are there I want him out." Lily rounded on Dumbledore as well.

"Alright everyone calm down. Let's wait until the end of the chapter before we do anything. Then at the end of the chapter Remus will go with Dumbledore to ensure that I return here safely, at which point we will then resume reading. Am I understood?" Harry said loud and firm, but also calmly.

"How come Remus gets to get you and not James and I. You are our son after all."

"Because if the two of you went, it would overwhelm young me. All I knew about you was that you were dead. It wouldn't go over well with me if you suddenly show up. Remus, on the other hand, can explain to me everything that's currently going on, keeping in mind that I know nothing other than the fact that my parents are dead, and Remus can also tell me a few stories about them which will help build my trust, since at this point in time I didn't trust many adults. Does that make it better? Plus if Remus goes, then he'll make sure that young me is taken away from that place." Harry explained to Lily in a comforting sort of way.

"I suppose that's all right. Can we keep reading now? And with limited interruptions please? I'd like to get through this chapter quickly."

**When he was dressed he went down the hall to the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley had wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise – unless of course it involved punching somebody.**

"Why do I get the feeling that he liked to use you as a punching bag?" Arthur asked still re in the face about the cupboard.

**Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it but he was very fast. Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.**

"Nope. That's part of the Potter Curse." James said trying to cheer himself and Lily up a bit. Lily didn't say anything, although she did show a small smile.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair,**

"Ah the Potter Curse." Remus said with a smile. "There was another part to that too, wasn't there Prongs?"

"What you mean the falling for redheads part, and the part where all your dates never work out until you start to date your future wife?"

"What?" Harry looked at his dad with utter amusement.

"That explains so much. Well now I guess I can't hate you for marrying my sister, I guess it was in your DNA this whole time." Ron said defeated.

**And bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was in the shape of a lightning bolt.**

"You actually liked it at one point?" Neville asked then added quite sarcastically "What changed?"

"Hmmm I dunno Neville. Might be all the people walking up to me and staring at my forehead that had something to do with it." Harry responded with a smile.

**He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he'd gotten it.**

"**In the car crash where you're parents died," she had said.**

"That's another thing Remus, you're going to have to tread very lightly in certain subjects. I didn't know about magic until I was eleven, and I'd been brought up with that lie." Harry informed Remus, who just nodded somberly. James and Lily were silently fuming.

"**And don't ask questions." **_**Don't ask questions**_** –**

"Don't ask questions? However will you learn that way?" Asked a scandalized Remus and Hermione everyone who knew Remus or Hermione laughed.

**That was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

"**Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting. About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way – all over the place. Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel – Harry often said that Dudley looked like**

"Our guess would be –" started Fred.

"A pig in a wig." Supplied George. Ginny laughed at the twins, they looked at her confused.

**A pig in a wig.**

"Wow we think like –"

"The famous Harry Potter!"

"Well I am the son of one of the greatest pranksters known to Hogwarts, and I'm friends with their replacement. Yes Prongs the next generation of pranksters after you replace you. They might even be better then you." Harry looked at the twins and then smirked at James' shocked look.

"No one can be better than the Marauders." James growled.

"Oh no? Just you wait. Those twins over there are pranking geniuses, but you should be proud. After all the Marauders were their idols." Harry had a full blown smile when he saw the look on James' face. He didn't know a face could show both disappointment and pride. The twins on the other hand were beaming.

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell. **

"**Thirty – six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"I never even got that many birthday presents." James said.

"Really? Your family is rich and you never got thirty eight presents?" Lily was shocked.

"Usually he got one or two from his parents and then a present from Sirius, a present from me, a present from Peter, or a joint Marauder present. Same at Christmas." Remus told Lily.

"**Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."**

"**All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over. Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger too, because she said quickly,**

"**And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"**

"That's not how a parent is supposed to deal with the situation."

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty . . . thirty. . ."**

"**Thirty nine sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

"**Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then." Uncle Vernon chuckled.**

"**Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair. At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR.**

"What are all those things?" Arthur.

"If you write them down then I'll explain them to you when Remus goes to get young Harry." Hermione told him. Mr. Weasley conjured a piece of parchment and a quill and started writing a list.

**He was ripping off the paper a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the phone looking both angry and worried. "Bad news, Vernon" she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction. Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"You know Harry, you used to love cats. In fact McGonagall used to sit next you in cat form to keep you quite whenever there was a meeting. She couldn't stand it, but you were so cute, as a baby, that she put up with it, although she did force your parents to get another cat after a while so she could focus on the meetings." Remus said, then he laughed at the memories. Harry started to blush, then an idea struck him.

"I wonder how McGonagall would feel if she knew that you told me this." He was wearing a very mischievous smile.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Don't tempt him. He's insane." Ron smirked.

"**Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he should feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself that it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**

"**We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

"**Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy." The Dursley's often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there – or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

"**What about what's-her-name , your friend – Yvonne?"**

"**On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

"**You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer). Aunt Petunia looked as though she had swallowed a lemon.**

"**And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

"**I won't blow up the house," said Harry but they weren't listening.**

"**I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, ". . . and leave him in the car. . . ."**

"He's not a dog and that's illegal." Lily snarled. All the time travelers laughed. Everyone looked at them confused.

"Sorry, it's just that, our old friend Snuffles would've told you that he resents that comment." Ron told them.

"That's something Padfoot would've said too." James commented.

"**That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone. . . ." Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact he wasn't really crying – it had been years since he'd really cried – but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

"**Dinky Duddydums,**

Everyone started to laugh.

**Don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

"**I . . . don't . . . want . . . him . . . t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms. Just then the doorbell rang – "Oh good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically – and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

"Of course. Can't have your best friend seeing you cry because your cousin has to tag along to the zoo." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Hey I can't remember a single time when I cried in front of you 'Mione, except for maybe when James was born, but that's about it." Harry told her.

"But you're different, all the stuff in your life would make a normal person cry but I don't see you crying because your cousin has to go to the zoo." She clarified for him.

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursley's car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside. "I'm warning you boy," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy – any funny business, anything at all – and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

"**I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly . . ." But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did. The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen. Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barber looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses.**

"It's impossible to beat the Potter hair, I wouldn't be too worried about it." James smirked.

**Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly. Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him to wear a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls).**

Everyone flinched at the thought of a sweater like that.

**The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but it certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished. On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. The Dursley's had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must've caught him in mid-jump.**

"Not that I approve of lying, but that's pretty pathetic" James said.

"Don't worry young Harry –"

"Yeah we'll teach you how to lie." The twins said. Everyone chuckled, except for Molly, who was glaring at them.

"Actually I got a lot better at it over the years. Besides sometimes you have to lie to get out of a bad situation. At least that's what they told me when I became an Auror." Harry told the twins.

**But today nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage smelling living room. While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He like to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning it was motorcycles. ". . . roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**

**"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying." Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a moustache : "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

"Awww come on Gin you gotta yell it."

"I would but seeing as how James is asleep right now, and I'd like to keep it that way, I don't think I will Harry." Harry fake pouted. Everyone else laughed at him.

**Dudley and Piers sniggered.**

"**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream." But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon – they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

"Yeah because watching Tom and Jerry is going to give you dangerous ideas." Hermione scoffed.

"I don't know 'Mione, do you really want these two idiots to watch Tom and Jerry? Think long and hard about the show." Ginny said laughing while pointing at Harry and Ron, both of whom look slightly offended. Hermione went deep into thought, then she laughed.

"Maybe that was the wrong show to pick." She said between laughs.

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

"Now Harry, what did that poor gorilla ever do to you to deserve such an insult?" Ron said in mock disapproval. Everyone laughed.

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on the top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first. Harry felt, afterword, that he should have known it was all too good to last. After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can – **

"That's impressive." James said. Remus let out a low whistle.

**But at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep. Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

"**Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

"**Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

"**This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away. Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't be surprised if the snake had died of boredom itself – no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house. The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's. It winked. Harry stared then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

"My son can converse with snakes? That's so cool. Can you show us?" James' eyes were lit with excitement.

"Sorry, dad, I haven't been able to do that since 1998." Harry said.

"Oh well. You're still my son so that means I love you." James said quite definitely. Harry looked mildly taken aback at hearing his father say that he loved him.

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: "I get that all the time."**

"**I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying." The snake nodded vigorously.**

"**Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked. The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it. Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**

"**Was it nice there?" The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo.**

"**Oh, I see – so you've never been to Brazil?"**

"Oh no he's been loads of times, he goes to visit in his spare time." Ron said quite sarcastically.

"'Course it does. Why do you think I was double checking?" Harry said acting quite seriously. Everyone laughed at him.

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could. **

"**Out of the way, you," he said punching Harry in the ribs.**

"Remus, you're going to pick him up as soon as this chapter is over correct? And someone else is going to take care of him right?" James said quite seriously.

"I will do everything in my power to ensure that we get Harry away from these people as soon as this chapter is over." Remus promised.

**Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened – one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the class, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror. Harry sat up and gasped; the glass font of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.**

Everyone but Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny laughed hysterically.

"How come you four aren't laughing?" Charlie said once he could control himself.

"Wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be. He told me he set a snake on his cousin. By the sound of it all he did was set the snake free." Ron said disappointedly.

"I've heard it before. It loses its charm after a hundred times." Ginny shrugged.

"I already knew the basics and so far nothing funny has happened. The only think that's happened is that the glass has vanished." Hermione shrugged too.

"And you Harry? I thought you of all people would've found it funny." James inquired.

"The initial event was funny, but the aftermath was a tad unpleasant." Harry looked at his feet.

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits. As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could've sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come. . . . Thanksss, amigo." The keeper of the house was in shock.**

"**But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

"That's actually a very good question. Where do things go when they vanish?" Percy asked. Everyone shrugged.

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten his leg off, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

Hermione chuckled at that. "That boy has about the same level of tact as Ron." She said in response to all the weird looks she was getting, the other people who knew Ron let out chuckles too, even Ron himself.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go – cupboard – stay – no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy. Harry lay in his bed much later wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

"That's my boy! Looks like you inherited the Marauder's gene." James said proudly.

"You better not have." Lily warned Harry.

"No worries, I rarely caused trouble intentionally." Harry comforted her.

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died.**

"It would be impressive if you could, I mean you were only fifteen months old when they died." Remus told Harry.

**Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain in his forehead.**

"You survive the killing curse? And you remember it?" Remus asked quietly awed. Everyone else was speechless except, the ones from the future who already knew this.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light had come from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

"I might still have a bunch of my old pictures I would be happy to share them with you." Remus said sadly.

"I think we might have some somewhere in the house too. I'll look for them when Remus goes to get seven year old Harry." Arthur said.

"I'm hungry mom can we eat lunch while we look at pictures?" Ron laughed at the younger version of himself.

"I forgot what a bottomless pit you were when you were younger." Hermione said to her husband who instantly turned red.

"I'll fix lunch when Remus comes back Ron." Mrs. Weasley said.

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too.**

"Now, Harry. If they weren't strange –"

"Then why call them strangers."

"Well Fred and George. I've met perfectly normal strangers. These were just strange strangers." Harry said with a smile.

**A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple cloak had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word.**

"We see what you mean, these strangers –"

"Are strange indeed."

**The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look. At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"Well I think that just about everyone in this room likes to disagree with Dudley's gang." Bill said confidently. All the younger kids agreed quite forcefully.

"Okay, can we please finish this chapter so Remus can save my baby boy from these awful people?" Lily asked once all the kids had calmed down a little.

"That was the end of the chapter. We'll wait for Remus, and Dumbledore to return before we continue reading and then I think it is Hermione's turn to read." Ginny said. Remus all but jumped out of his seat and ran to the door. Dumbledore on the other hand was a tad bit slower.


	4. Another Harry Arrives

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter J. K. Rowling does. Sorry if this chapter isn't as good, I wasn't really sure how to do the ending.**

* * *

><p>Don't you think it's best for Harry's sake if we wait until his seventeen year old parents are not present? We wouldn't want to overwhelm the poor boy. I admit that it was not my smartest idea to place Harry in his aunt and uncle's care, but I'd rather not get his hopes up." He said calmly.<p>

"I don't care what you say I'm removing him for his health. He's obviously being starved, beaten by his cousin and possibly his aunt and uncle, and he's deprived of love which is going to destroy his self-esteem and sense of self-worth. Unless you'd rather have him feel worthless and then more likely to do dangerous things when he's older. Keep this in mind I'm giving you five minutes to make up your mind and then I'm going with or without you." Remus said quite defiantly. James and Lily were smiling proudly, James also looked as if he wanted to applaud the Gryffindor spirit that Remus was showing but thought better of it. Nobody quite knew what to do. After what felt like an hour, but was really about five minutes, Dumbledore finally stood up and walked towards the door. With that he and Remus left.

"Well, I'll go and look for those photos now." Mr. Weasley stood up and walked out of the room.

"I suppose I should figure out what to do about lunch." With that Mrs. Weasley went to the kitchen.

"Want to help me prank my dad?" Harry muttered to Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Neville. Huge grins spread across all their faces. "Great here's the plan."

With Remus and Dumbledore

It seemed like a normal Saturday, and for most of the inhabitants of Privet Drive it was. However, unbeknownst to them two men had just arrived on the corner who were going to change a small seven year olds life forever. Remus knocked on the door of number four. He could hear a man yelling at someone, he distinctly heard the word "cupboard". He fought very hard not to look angry, he remembered that it would annoy the Dursleys more if he seemed overly perky and enthusiastic. A very large man opened the door.

"Hello. You would be Vernon Dursley I presume? I've come to speak to you about your nephew." Remus smiled brightly at the thought of seeing Harry again after six long years.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I have no nephew. Please leave and never return." Vernon snarled.

"I think you do know what I'm talking about." Remus stepped over the threshold despite the protests from Vernon. A thin woman with a very long neck walked in when she heard Vernon raising his voice.

"Ah Petunia. Well I haven't seen you since you picked up your sister from the train. Now where is Harry I want to speak with him, and I believe that Professor Dumbledore would like to speak to you about Harry as well. If you could point me in the right direction, please?" Petunia's face drained of color.

"I don't know who you are. I haven't got a sister, and I don't know any Harry."

"Well then let me reintroduce myself. My name is Remus Lupin. Your sister's name was Lily Evans until she married my best friend James Potter. She had a little boy named Harry James Potter. I wish to see that boy. Now where is he? And don't play dumb with me, I have ways of making you talk. In case you've forgotten Petunia, I happen to be a wizard. I also know where Harry is at right now, and I'm quite tired of your pathetic acting. Dumbledore, if you would please take care of the legal aspects, I'm going to find my nephew in all but blood." Dumbledore nodded, having seen the animal inside Remus threating to come out two weeks early, and Remus pushed past Petunia and Vernon Dursley and made his way to the cupboard under the stairs. He regained control over his anger and opened the door slowly. Inside he saw a small boy. A boy that looked almost exactly like his best friend James, but with his friend Lily's eyes. The little boy looked terrified. Remus smiled gently at him and then sat down on the bed next to him.

"Hello Harry. My name is Remus. But I want you to call me Uncle Moony." Harry looked at Remus with confusion, the terror was lessening a little from his face. Remus knew that he was forbidden to ask questions, and he hoped to change that.

"Your dad was my best friend growing up. And your mom was there for me at a time when no one else was. I went to their wedding to. Your mom was so beautiful, and your dad was so nervous he kept trying to flatten his hair, but that never worked for him. Then they had you. You were the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. You always seemed to be smiling. You had just started to call me 'Uncle Moony' before you're parents died. But you couldn't say your L's or your M's yet so instead it sounded like you were calling me 'Unc Oony' Lily thought that it was adorable. And soon your dad started to call me that too, he thought it would annoy me." The terror that Harry had initially had in his expression was almost completely gone after Remus told him all this. All though he still felt a bit uncomfortable with the way Remus was looking at him.

"You look so much like your father you know. Except for your eyes. You have your mother's eyes."

"Really?" Harry asked before he could stop himself. Then he looked at Remus with fear in his eyes, afraid of what he was going to do. Harry wasn't allowed to ask questions. To his great surprise Remus didn't yell at him, or hit him. Instead he smiled at Harry.

"Would you like to see a picture of your family?" Remus took a photo out of his pocket. "We took this picture shortly before your parents' death. I don't want you to get worried when you see this picture, because there's something special about this picture that not many people can do. The people in this picture move."

"How can they do that?" Harry asked.

"Magic." Remus said with a smile. Harry's eyes widened.

"Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia say there's no such thing as magic." Harry said in a whisper. He didn't want his aunt or uncle to hear him talk about magic.

"Well they don't know anything. You're a wizard Harry." Remus told him.

"I can't be. There's no such thing as magic." Harry said quietly. Remus took out his wand and used it to shrink some of Harry's baggy clothes until they were the right size for him.

"now that you have clothes that'll fit you better, what is it you were saying about no such thing as magic?" Remus said grinning. _Oh, James would have been so proud to know I used a Marauder's style of tricking into belief on his son. Wait, what am I talking about would be? A younger version of James is at the Burrow waiting for me to bring him and Lily their son._ Remus thought.

"Have you ever made something strange happen when you were sad or angry or scared? Something strange like jumping on a school roof?" Harry's eyes widened.

"How did you know about that? Did I do magic? Does that mean I really am a wizard?" Harry asked in shock.

"You are indeed. And I know all about that. You see I'm reading a book with a few friends of mine. A book about you."

"A book about _me_? Why would I have a book about me?"

"I think I'll answer that question with a story. Once, a long time ago, there was this wizard who was really, really bad. He killed everyone he didn't like, or who tried to stop him. Your parents tried to stop him. So he killed them. Now here's where you come in. He tried to kill you too. But he couldn't, he tried to kill you with this really bad spell called the Killing Curse. No one had ever survived that curse. That is before you did. You are the only person to survive that curse. And when you survived that curse, something in the bad wizard broke, and he lost all his powers. That made you famous. You still are famous too, so they wrote books about you, and about your years at Hogwarts."

"What was this bad wizard's name?"

"His name was Voldemort."

"Oh. What's Hogwarts?" Remus smiled a little at this question.

"Hogwarts is a special school. Only witches and wizards can go there to learn magic." Harry nodded in understanding, but didn't say anything else.

"Would you like to see that special picture now?" Harry nodded and Remus gave him the picture. "That's your dad there in the glasses, and your mom with her red hair. That other black haired man is your Uncle Sirius but we always called him Padfoot. And that there is me holding you." Remus pointed at each person as he said who they were. Peter Pettigrew had taken the picture. They had been visiting Lily and James. Lily had insisted that they take that picture.

"I want you to keep that. Now I have a very, very important question for you Harry." Harry looked away from the people waving at him from the picture, and up at Remus. "How would you like to come and read your stories with my friends and I? I promise you will never return to the Dursleys if that's what you want."

"You're going to take me away?" Harry said quietly.

"I'm going to take you away, to a better place, but only if you want to come. Do you want to come?" Harry nodded vigorously. Remus smiled then helped him pack a bag. There wasn't much he could pack. The only things in the bags were Harry's newly shrunken clothes and the picture of him with his parents, and two uncles. Remus had conjured a frame for it so that it wouldn't get wrinkled. Then Remus took Harry's hand and led him towards the door. Dumbledore was waiting for them.

"Ah Mr. Lupin and young Mr. Potter, well I see you are ready to go and I have gotten the Dursleys here to relinquish custody of young Harry so we are all set." Dumbledore informed them.

At the Burrow

"Where's Remus with Harry?" Lily said worriedly.

"Lily relax, Moony knows what he's doing. They'll be here soon." James tried to comfort her. Lily glared at them. Everyone was anxious about the newest arrival to the story. Some were anxious to meet him, mainly all those Bill's age and below as well as James and Lily, while others were worried about how the little boy was going to handle meeting his dead parents from the past and his future friends and family, mainly every one above Bill's age. Then the thing they were all waiting for happened. They heard the front door open. Nobody moved because nobody wanted to overwhelm him. Remus walked in, holding the hand of a small boy.

"Harry, remember all those people I told you about on the way here? Why don't you go say hi to them, but make sure you save those two for last." Remus told the boy pointing at James and Lily. Harry walked over to his future self.

"Hello, I'm you. From the future. I'm the Harry Potter from 2005. Would you like to meet our family? We'll eat once we get through everyone alright?" Harry asked the younger version of himself. The young Harry nodded and then tagged along with his older self.

"This is our wife Ginny and our son James. Don't worry, you don't fall in love until you're much older." Harry said noticing the look on young Harry's face.

"And this is the older version of our best friend and brother-in-law Ron. That's his wife and our other best friend Hermione." Ron and Hermione said hello to the young Harry.

"Now we get to meet someone cool. This is Neville Longbottom. He's another really good friend of ours and he works at Hogwarts, did Remus tell you about Hogwarts?" Harry asked after introducing Neville. Young Harry nodded again.

"Now we get into the Weasleys. Some of our favorite people are Weasleys. We'll go in order I suppose. This is Mr. and Mrs. Weasley." Mrs. Weasley looked as if she was about to hug young Harry but felt that it was best if his mother hugged him first.

"Here we have William, who'd rather go by Bill." Bill shook young Harry's hand.

"This is Charlie." Charlie also shook young Harry's hand.

"I'm Percy." Percy said introducing himself.

"We are Fred and George. I'm Fred. Really I'm Fred." Fred introduced himself.

"And I'm George. We like to switch our names all the time and we also go by Gred and Forge, so don't worry if you get us confused, sometimes our own mom can't get us right." George assured young Harry, young Harry smiled at the twins, he could tell that he was going to like them.

"I'm Ron. Ron Weasley." Young Ron shook young Harry's hand.

"I'm Ginny."

"And here is where I leave you. I think these two would rather introduce themselves, but I must tell you Harry, these people are like me. They're just visiting, they aren't here to stay, but they aren't going to leave you because they want to okay? When they leave it's because they're forced to leave, but that won't stop them from loving you alright?" Harry told his younger self, who just nodded. Then the young Harry went over to his seventeen year old parents.

"Hello." Was all he could say.

"Hi Harry. I bet you're wondering who we are. Well we come from 1977, we're the seventeen year old versions of your parents." James said quietly as Lily hugged young Harry. Young Harry didn't quite know what to do, but after a second he hugged Lily back, then when Lily let go, he went over to hug James.

"Well how about we go get some lunch and then we'll read a story. How's that sound?" Lily asked then she led young Harry into the kitchen where everyone was sitting. Young Harry sat in between his parents who kept making sure he ate as much as he wanted. Then they went back to their spots in the circle, again young Harry sat between his parents and Hermione picked up the book.


	5. The Letters From No One

**Disclaimer goes from this chapter on and back just in case I forget or forgot. Sorry about the Disney thing, I go into Disney mode when my mind shuts down do to emotional stuff and it's hard to come back out. I'm also sorry about the pathetic thing I did with older Ron about the whole burn thing. I would love to hear about your favorite parts though if you could let me know in a review? Please? Now on with the Harry Potterness! Sorry, but I'd lie to add a few things, to clear some stuff up.**

** I see my self as Neville in this so, his questions are stuff I'm actually curious to.**

** Second, now that I have two Rons and Harrys that are talking more and it gets so tedious to speify between old and young, if they are underlined they are fom the future, if not they are from the past. I don't know why I've been underlining Hermione and not Neville so don't ask. Also if I ever forget to underline one, I'm pretty sure that you'll be able to tell which one I'm talking about, if not let me know and I'll try and fix it.**

**And thirdly, since I don't feel like writing baby James every time I talk about older Harry and Ginny's kid so he's called Jamie. I think that's all the important stuff so now you can read.**

* * *

><p><strong>The Letters From No One<strong>

"Sounds like someone is going to get his Hogwarts letter." Bill said.

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor had earned Harry his longest-ever punishment.**

"What did I do?" Harry asked.

"You went to the zoo on your cousin's birthday because Mrs. Figg broke her leg, and when Dudley pushed you, you made the glass on a big snakes tank disappear, only the Dursleys didn't like that. We thought it was awesome." Ron told him.

**By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches. Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.**

"That logic actually hurts my head to think about in detail." Percy stated.

"There's an easy fix for that you know." Bill told him.

"Oh and what would that be?" Percy asked. The twins grinned.

"Don't think." They said together. Everyone smiled, even Percy.

**The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Harry Hunting.**

"I would like to try Dudley Hunting one day." Harry told everyone.

"Can we tag along when you do?" The twins and Ron asked. Harry nodded and smiled, glad that he was making friends for the first time in his life.

**This is why Harry spent as much time out of the house as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings.**

Everyone laughed.

"I guess we really shouldn't be laughing, I mean we go to a school called Hogwarts." Bill said when everyone had calmed down.

**Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny.**

"**They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come up stairs and practice?"**

"If he even tries I swear he'll regret it." Lily said threatened.

"I don't think you have to worry too much about that, Lily." Hermione said with a smile, having read ahead. Ron had looked over at the book and was now trying not to laugh. Everyone else just looked confused.

"**No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it – it might be sick." **

Everyone started laughing uncontrollably. Even Dumbledore let out a little chuckle.

**Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.**

"I wouldn't be too worried about that, if I were you." Neville said, still smiling.

**One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she had it for several years.**

"That poor chocolate cake, not being eaten right away. Chocolate is too precious and delicious to leave lying around for several years." Remus said horrified.

"Moony's our little chocolate addict. He says it helps him get over his furry little problem." James smirked at Moony. Remus looked like he wanted to smack James.

"How would chocolate help you get over having a bunny with a problem?" young Harry asked his dad.

"He says it helps with the sadness. You see about once a month Moony's bunny gets really mean and tries to bite him, it usually succeeds, and poor Moony just gets so upset over his bunny's health that he starts eating chocolate until he feels better." James explained to the seven year old.

"Is it a girl bunny by any chance?" Charlie asked. All the teenagers and adults laughed when James nodded while the younger kids merely looked confused.

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new Smeltings uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters.**

"I'm glad our uniforms, at least, don't clash with anyone's hair. I don't think the Weasley red would look nice in maroon or orange robes." Charlie said with a grimace.

**They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be training for later life.**

"How does that work out exactly?" Percy asked.

"The same way you aren't supposed to use magic at Hogwarts except in class but no one follows that rule." Charlie told him.

"Oh now it makes more sense." Percy said in understanding.

**As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins,**

Everyone started laughing. Except for Fred and George who were looking at both Rons almost in horror.

"We used to call you Ickle Ronniekins –"

"I think Fred and I have come to an agreement Ron."

"We will never call you that again, we promise." The twins said together.

**He looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might have cracked already from trying not to laugh. There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water. "What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia.**

"And there's the Gryffindor stupidity shining through." Hermione said.

"Hey! That's courage not stupidity. Gryffindors are brave remember." Ron argued.

"They have to be. How else do you think they survive all the stupid stuff they do?" Hermione rebutted.

"If I recall you wanted to be put in Gryffindor." Hermione looked at Ron in shock. Ron just gave her a cheeky grin.

**Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question. "Your new school uniform," she said. Harry looked at the bowl again.**

"**Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."**

"Although I admire your ability to come up with witty remarks, they are wasted on these people. They simply don't know what it means to laugh." James told young Harry, who just nodded in response. He was still adjusting to not being with the Dursleys and with people who appeared to care about him.

"**Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dying some of Dudley's old things grey for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished." Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High – like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.**

"Are those your own clothes Harry? Only they don't look that big on you." Percy asked.

"Actually, my new and favorite Uncle Moony shrunk them so they fit me better." Remus' heart swelled at being called a favorite uncle. He smiled at Harry proudly.

"Your shrunken clothes are only temporary. Once we're done reading we'll go out and get you your own clothes." Remus told the seven year old.

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table. They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat. "Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.**

"Did he just tell Dudley to do something?" James asked in shock. Hermione nodded, shocked as well.

"I thought you said Harry, 'Mione." Ron stated flabbergasted.

"**Make Harry get it."**

"**Get the mail, Harry."**

"Now that's back to normal." Harry mumbled.

"**Make Dudley get it." **

"**Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley."**

"OI! That's my son your poking." Lily cried out indignantly.

"Don't mess with my nephew Dursley if you know what's good for you." Remus threatened.

"That is no way for an adult make a boy get the mail. He told his son to do it; his son should be the one to be poked." Molly said, glaring at the book.

"Moony, I say that Messers Moony and Prongs should visit these people and give them a little surprise." James said grinning evilly.

"I couldn't agree more with you Prongs." Remus said, catching the look on James' face, he smiled evilly too. Harry on the other hand was in shock that so many people cared for him. Harry leaned over to Ron and whispered,

"What do you think will happen when they find out about the bars?"

"I think we'll need to make a few copies of these books before one of them accidently destroys it." Ron whispered back. Hermione quickly made a copy of the book and put it in the box with the others while no one was looking after eavesdropping on Harry and Ron. Ron smirked at her.

"Oh shut up, it was your idea." She said to him.

"But 'Mione, I didn't say anything." Ron said innocently.

**Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a post card from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge,**

Harry shivered. James, Lily, and Remus looked at him in concern. "I hate her. She's worse than Uncle Vernon." Lily rubbed his back to comfort him, but was unsure how to respond. James looked at Remus.

"Moony, I think we need to make a list of people to visit." Remus nodded then conjured a piece of parchment, an ink pot, and a quill and started writing down the list of people to prank. Harry meanwhile was trying hard not to laugh.

"I wouldn't worry too much about pranking that particular thing. I beat you to the punch when I was thirteen. Some of my finest work even if it was accidental." Ron, James, and Remus looked at Harry with confusion. Then realization dawned on Ron.

"Do we get to read about that? You never went into detail, and that was the one I always wanted to hear in complete detail." Ron said excitedly.

**Who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and – a letter for Harry. Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would? He had no friends, no other relatives – he didn't belong to the library, so he never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake: **

**Mr. H. Potter**

**The Cupboard under the stairs**

**4 Privet Drive**

**Little Whinging **

**Surrey**

**The envelope was thick and heavy, made of thick yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp. Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion,**

"Gryffindor!" Yelled James, Remus, and all the Weasleys from 1987.

**An eagle,**

"Ravenclaw!" Cheered Neville and Ginny.

"Are you a Ravenclaw little sis?" Bill asked.

"First, I'm older then you. Second, no, one of my best friends was, so I like Ravenclaw."

"I never understood why _Raven_claw's mascot was an eagle, you'd think it'd be, oh I don't know, a _raven_." Neville said.

**A badger,**

"Hufflepuff!" Ron and Hermione cheered.

"Before you ask, we had a few friends in Hufflepuff." Ron addressed everyone.

**And a snake**

"Slytherin." Lily and Harry said although not as excited. Everyone looked at them strangely.

"What? There's good and bad people in every house." Harry said.

"Name one good person that was in Slytherin." James said.

"Andromeda Tonks. She left the Black family, and married a Muggleborn. She's Sirius' cousin, didn't he ever tell you that?"

"She was in Slytherin? Well I guess you're right." James sighed in defeat.

"As usual." Ron said under his breath.

**Surrounding a large letter H. "Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.**

James, Remus and the twins howled in pain.

"What's your problem Pot– James?" Lily asked, trying her best to start using James' first name, James didn't notice.

"That joke. It was so bad it actually hurt to hear it." James said acting as if he was in pain.

"Make it stop! Make it stop! Oh the pain! Oh the agony!" Remus howled.

"Honestly Remus, I thought you were the most sensible." Lily reprimanded him. Harry one the other hand was laughing harder than he ever had with the Dursleys.

"Well we don't need to be sensible, see Harry seems to enjoy this." James smiled at his seven year old son.

"I've had more fun here with you then I ever did with the Dursleys." Harry said quietly.

"Well lucky for you, you happen to be in the presence of four of the greatest pranksters in the history of wizarding kind. And if all goes according to plan, it'll be five soon enough, which is all of them. And it's not fully my plan this time, which means it won't end as badly." Harry said. Ron and Hermione snorted at the last bit.

**Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope. Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the post card. "Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk. . ."**

"**Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!" Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was snatched out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.**

"**That's mine!" said Harry, trying to snatch it back.**

"**Who'd be writing to you?"**

"Hmmmm I can think of a few people." Ron said looking at his sister.

"Oi! There's no need for me to write him anymore when I live in the same house as him, need I go into more detail?" Ginny asked Ron.

"NO!" Harry practically shouted in embarrassment. "I think that's enough detail for him, we don't need to go into specifics." Ginny smirked at Harry.

"Well don't you jump the gun. I wasn't going to go into too much detail, just enough to freak him out a little." Ginny said innocently. Ron grimaced. Harry shuddered a little. Hermione and Ginny laughed at the boys' reactions.

**Sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge. "P-P-Petunia!" he gasped. Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it,**

"Does that mean he finally learned how to read?" Harry asked quietly.

**But Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and red the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise. "Vernon! Oh my goodness – Vernon!" They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.**

"I would be in so much trouble if I did that, but of course he gets away with everything because he's Aunt Petunia's little angel." Harry murmured bitterly to himself.

"**I want to read that letter," he said loudly.**

"_**I**_** want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's **_**mine**_**."**

"Excellent logic Harry. That's your mom's logic poking through, unless Moony's been reading you dictionaries and philosophy books as bedtime stories." James said, giving Harry a one armed hug. Harry smiled. _I could get used to things like this._ Harry thought relishing the signs of affection he was getting from all these new people around him.

"One time. It was one time, and he fell asleep after the first word." Remus defended himself.

"Moony, how dare you corrupt my son in such a fashion. I don't mind if he's logical but if he starts enjoying reading a dictionary. I blame you." James accused Remus.

"Oh please. You couldn't have been happier when I did it. Harry hadn't slept more than a few hours at a time and he felt that everyone should be awake with him, so you two were completely exhausted. Then I had the brilliant idea to read him a boring book instead of whatever you guys were telling him. And let me tell you, you told me that that was the most sleep you had gotten since he entered his no sleep stage." Remus said defiantly. James just shook his head. Everyone else was either chuckling or, in the twins case, shaking with silent laughter.

"**Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside it's envelope. Harry didn't move. "I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.**

"What is it with you girls? Why won't you yell it? It's in all caps for a reason." Harry whined.

"Because we don't want to wake up Jamie." Hermione answered.

"So if he wakes up we just give Uncle Moony a dictionary and tell him to read it. I don't see what the big problem is." Everyone burst out laughing.

"Don't worry Harry; I'll make sure I yell when it's my turn whether Jamie is awake or asleep." Ron promised him.

"Thank you, Ron."

"**Let **_**me**_** see it!" demanded Dudley.**

"**OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent battle over who got to listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay on his stomach to listen at the crack between the door and floor.**

"I think you won that battle then. The crack is the best spot as long as you stand up and back away from the door before the people in the room decide to exit. Otherwise your nose starts hurting and you have to explain what you were doing on the floor." Bill told Harry.

"Unless your Tonks, then you just say you fell." Charlie said with a laugh. Those who knew Tonks laughed to.

"**Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address – how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"**

"**Watching – spying – might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.**

"**But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want –" Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.**

"**No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer. . . . Yes that's best . . . we won't do anything. . . ."**

"**But – "**

"**I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in that we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"**

"What does he mean by stamp out?" Lily asked furiously. "He didn't hit you did he?" Neither Harry looked at her. Something that none of the adults seemed to like.

**That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before;**

"Exercised?" Bill asked.

"Disciplined Dudley?" Charlie asked.

"I think you're both wrong. I bet he went to visit Harry." James said.

"Yeah and then he smiled afterwards." Remus added.

"That could never happen." Percy said.

"It said he did something he'd never done before." James rebutted. Harry was going red in the face from trying not to laugh.

**He visited Harry in his cupboard.**

"Well it looks like only James was right." Bill said defeated.

"Ah but I said then. As in sometime after he visits Harry." Remus told Bill.

"**Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon squeezed through the door. "Who's writing to me?"**

"Ah a true Gryffindor in the making. Daring to ask two questions in a row. The nerve of you Harry." George mock scolded him.

"I think you'll find that rules don't apply to me and even if they did that didn't stop me. I dragged those two knuckleheads in to everything too. The only time I don't drag them in is when they drag me into whatever." Harry said smiling and pointing his thumb towards Ron and Hermione. Hermione whispered in Ginny's ear. Ginny smacked Harry on the arm.

"That's from Hermione, not me." She told him.

"**No one. It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it."**

"**It was not a mistake," said Harry angrily, "it had my cupboard on it."**

"**SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling.**

"What is it with you and spiders Ron; I mean honestly you were three years old. I'm sorry alright, I was an idiot. I understand why Ron's afraid; I mean he's seven years old. But you are a full grown man. Why are you still frightened of spiders?" Fred asked Ron.

"I had the fortunate opportunity of being introduced to an entire colony of Acromantula." Ron told Fred, shivering at the memory.

"But there isn't a colony anywhere near somewhere you'd be." Mr. Weasley said confused.

"Second book, and it wasn't my idea." Ron said quiet and blushing.

**He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.**

"**Er – yes, Harry –**

"He actually knows my name?" Harry asked in awe.

**About this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking . . . you're really getting quite big for it . . . we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."**

There was a cry of outrage.

"My son has to sleep in a cupboard." James shook his head sadly. Remus was staring at a spot on the floor, trying not to set that bloody book on fire, _how dare they make my nephew sleep in a cupboard while that fat lard Dudley has two rooms_, Remus thought bitterly.

"**Why?" said Harry.**

"**Don't ask the questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now." The Dursley's house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom.**

"Then he doesn't need them, or he should share at the very least." Percy said outraged. Everyone else nodded adamantly.

**It only took Harry one trip to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken.**

"Then they shouldn't have kept it and then my new bestest friend could've had a decent room." Ron said.

"Thanks Ron, that means a lot." Harry told him.

"No worries. I've got your back for you." Ron smiled at Harry.

"Aw, the two of you are just like Bambi and Thumper." Lily cooed. Remus, James, Harry, and the Weasleys looked at her strange. Harry and Ron looked at each other with thoughtful expressions.

"I never would've thought of connecting _Disney_ to my life but, yeah – that actually makes some sense." Harry said.

"Well who's who and then does that mean that Hermione is Flower?" Ron asked Harry.

"Well I thought that would've been obvious. I mean really Ron. I'm obviously Bambi; did you forget what my dad was?" Harry mocked Ron.

"Okay can we get off the little Disney bromance we're having here? I don't feel like explaining Bambi to everyone here." Ginny said quite annoyed with her brother and husband. At the same time James asked,

"You know about me?"

"'Course dad." Harry told him.

"How is it that you know about Disney movies, but the younger you, has no clue?" Lily asked Harry. All those from the future blushed, including Neville.

"Funny story about that actually. You see –" Harry was cut off by Ginny.

"Harry James Potter! If you dare finish that story, I swear you will regret it. And that goes for you three as well. Ron, Hermione, Neville, I mean it." All those from the future gulped quite audibly and refused to say anymore on the subject.

**The month old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the neighbor's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favorite program had been cancelled; there was a large bird cage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it.**

Everyone laughed. Those from the future laughed especially hard along with Harry because they had seen how large Dudley and Vernon truly were.

**Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things that looked as though they'd never been touched.**

"They actually weren't that bad of a read either" Harry said.

"NOO! Harry! How could you. You've crossed over to the dark side." Ron cried in mock hurt. James looked at Remus.

"I blame you. This book thing is all your fault. You just had to read him the dictionary."

"What's so wrong with him reading a book?" Hermione, Lily, and Remus asked at the same time.

"Yeah. There's nothing wrong with the dark side. They at least have cookies. Besides Ron and dad. You two did realize that we are reading a book now right? So technically the two of you have crossed over to the dark side as well. Congratulations." Harry pointed out. Bot Ron and James frowned a little.

"Where are the cookies then?" Ron asked completely serious. Everyone stared at him for a moment.

"I'll make you some when we're done reading." Harry offered.

"No thanks. You can't bake. I've got nothing against your cooking but when it comes to your cookies they're just plain disgusting." Ron said with a grimace. Harry pretend to look mildly offended, after all, he made sure the cookies he made Ron tasted terrible just for the fun of it.

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, "I don't want him in there. . . I need that room . . . make him get out. . . ." Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he would've given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with his letter than up here without it. Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quite. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room.**

"Bout time they start disciplining the spoiled brat." Mr. Weasley said bitterly.

"Don't worry Harry, we'll spoil you too. Not to the same degree and you'll still have responsibilities, and you'll still get in trouble sometimes, but you'll be better off with us then with those Dursley people." Remus said. Harry smiled at the thought.

**Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly. When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! 'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive –"**

"Well that's stupid. If he wanted to read it then he shouldn't have said anything about it. All though he should just give Harry the letter. It's illegal to read other people's mail." James said. Lily looked at him in shock.

"I took Muggle Studies with Sirius. He did it to piss off his parents and I figured that if I ever wanted to talk to you about stuff I should at least know some things about Muggles. I just ask you sometimes because I don't remember everything we talk about." James said with a shrug.

"Impressive James." Lily said.

"Always the tone of surprises." James responded.

"Hey! That's my line! I use that on Hermione all the time!" Ron cried out indignantly. Hermione smiled fondly at Ron before she continued.

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind.**

"I just realized. I think that must be like my signature move for that year. Did you notice that Ron?" Harry wondered aloud.

"No, but it makes sense now that you mention it." Ron said thinking.

"What are you talking about and why would you need a signature move?" Lily asked. Harry and Ron blushed.

"Just for little mock fights. You know guy stuff." Harry said, meanwhile Ron was trying not to laugh.

**After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand.**

"Damn."

"James what did I tell you about swearing?" Lily reprimanded him.

"What? It wasn't me this time." James said in defense.

"Then who was it?" Remus shifted guiltily in his seat. "Remus! And I thought you had better sense then to use foul language."

"I'm sorry Lily, but it comes from being friends with Potty-Mouth-Potter and Bad-Mouthing-Black." Remus defended himself. Lily glared. Luckily for Remus baby Jamie was still asleep.

"**Go to your cupboard – I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry. "Dudley – go – just go." Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.**

"Oh dear Lord. Someone save us now. Harry has a plan, we are all doomed." Ron cried out. Harry looked at him offended.

"Sir, I will have you know, that I happen to have wonderful plans. The execution of said plans may be a bit of spotty workmanship on my part. But there is nothing wrong with any of my actual plans. Hermione, if you would please continue reading so this offensive, immature excuse of a brother-in-law can hear my brilliant plan."

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursley's. He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights. He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first.**

"If it weren't for the fact that it's yours, it's a brilliant plan, and should work wonderfully. But it's your plan so it's going to fail." Harry did the mature thing and stuck his tongue out at him.

"Oh honestly! When are the two of you going to grow up? You are men for crying out loud! Act your age, for once in your life." Hermione cried out in frustration.

"Why would we do that though? We are making life interesting." Harry looked at her in mock confusion. Ron just smiled and nodded in agreement. Hermione glared at the two of them.

**His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall toward the front door – "AAAAARRRGH!"**

"Don't you dare say it Harry James Potter you are on very thin ice right now." Hermione cut Harry off before he could say anything. Harry just smiled cheekily.

**Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat – something alive! Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realized that the big, squashy thing had been his uncle's face.**

Harry's face paled and his eyes widened in fear. Everyone else was laughing. Except for his older self. Harry was smiling but he just shook his head at everyone else.

**Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do. He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go make a cup of tea.**

"Now it's not funny. This walrus obviously hasn't got an ounce of logic."

"Couldn't have said it better myself Perce." Bill agreed.

**Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time he got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.**

"**I want –" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters to pieces before his eyes.**

"That's just cruel." Lily fumed.

"That's just Uncle Vernon." Harry replied.

**Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed home and nailed up the mail slot. **

"**See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't **_**deliver**_** them they'll just give up."**

"**I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."**

"You should listen to her. She knows more about magic then you do. After all she did know me." Lily said sadly.

"**Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock a nail in with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.**

"Well done Harry! You finally drove him loopy! You know sometimes it's not all that bad having you for a brother-in-law." Ron said proudly. Harry smirked at him.

"Boy you'd really kill me if I did something stupid wouldn't you."

"Nah. You do stupid stuff all the time, everyone's kind of gotten used to it by now." Ron said with a shrug. Harry looked offended

"And what might I ask, do you mean by that?"

"Oh I have a feeling we'll be reading all about some of your stupid stunts."

"Is that so. Well I have a feeling that sixth year will be a very interesting read _Won-Won_." Harry smiled as Ron's face turned blood red.

**On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom. Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked and jumped at small noises.**

"Again I congratulate you Harry as not only is he loopy, but he's also paranoid. That's my little brother-in-law." Ron said as if he was talking to a four year old. Harry stuck his tongue out.

"Oh grow up you two. Honestly, sometimes I wonder how we ever managed to do anything when you two are always so childish."

"'cause we're awesome. When are you going to start to remember that 'Mione?"

"Oh that's right what _was _I thinking? You are so right Harry the two of you are so awesome that you get away with everything and don't have to act your age." Hermione said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Ginny laughed at her.

"'Mione you do realize that those two idiots do get away with just about everything right?" Hermione stuck her tongue out at Ginny.

"Oi! Now whose being childish?"

"Oh shut up Ron." Hermione said blushing.

"Awww you know you love me." Ron managed to dodge Hermione who tried to smack him with the book.

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to,**

"Uncle Vernon likes complaining and yelling. I don't think it's very good for him to always be mad like that."

"That's very reasonably said for a seven year old Harry, and you're right, it's not good for him." Remus said.

"Moony, this is all your fault. You just had to make him so reasonable." James shook his head in disappointment.

"How do you know it wasn't me that made him so reasonable? After all I am his mother, half his DNA comes from me."

"Because Lily, dear, then I would be blaming you, which I can never do. It must always be someone else's fault. Even if it was yours then I can blame Moony so that you never get blamed for anything. As nothing is nor ever will be your fault."

Ron coughed, which sounded an awful like "kiss up". James smiled at him with a smile that clearly said "and proud of it."

**Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor. "Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement.**

"Again, I can think of a few people." Ron said and then he coughed again only this time it sounded like "Ginny"

"Again, I don't need to, remember. After all, James was born from the fact that I don't have to write to him anymore. And Harry knows that when I want to talk we talk, isn't that right Harry?"

"First off, yes dear whatever you say dear," Harry ducked as Ginny went to hit him. "Second off, you missed, and thirdly I want no part in your and Ron's conversations, as it's gotten to awkward for my taste. I'd rather not have your over-protective brother know all the details of what happens when we are home alone." Harry shuddered at the thought meanwhile Ron was going red in the face and was looking rather disgusted.

"I didn't need those images."

"Hey! At least you haven't walked in on us at your house. For crying out loud, I haven't been able to set foot in _my_ kitchen since." Ron's mouth hung open, he closed it and his face was turning red, he was starting to look like a cooked lobster with a really bad sunburn. James and Remus were starting to shake and cry because they were both laughing so hard, as were Bill and Charlie. Lily, Molly, Arthur, and Dumbledore were smiling, but didn't say anything about it. The kids under Charlie's age, who didn't understand, were laughing at how red Ron had gotten and how Hermione was fidgeting nervously. In order to save herself from further embarrassment, Hermione continued reading.

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.**

"**No post on Sundays," he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers,**

Normally at this point Ron would have congratulated Harry on driving his uncle insane, however he was still too embarrassed to say anything, so Remus and James took over.

"I'm so proud; it's always so lovely to learn that your one and only son has succeeded in driving his awful relatives insane." James said, pretending to get all choked up about it. He then pretended to cry, and winked at Harry, who was giving him a strange look.

"Way to go Prongslet!" Remus said encouragingly. Harry pretended to look mildly offended.

"I thought I was Prongslet, how come he gets to be Prongslet?" He mock whined, but his smile gave him away.

"Because I'm cooler than you. But don't worry, you can be Prongslet when you learn how to be like me." Harry said smiling.

"Ooooooh would you like some ice for that burn there Harry?" Ron said. "Future thing." He said when he noticed the weird looks he was getting.

"You are still on thin ice mister. And if you aren't careful, I might deprive you of lunch." Harry said threateningly. Ron gulped and motioned to Hermione to continue.

"**No damn letters today –" Something came whizzing down the chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one – **

"And you didn't pick one up off the ground because?" Lily asked.

"That would go against his natural instincts." Ron said with a chuckle.

"It's a trick I picked up, when the Dursleys go down you go up, they go right you go left, and when outside stay within clear view of the neighbors windows because they're terrified about what the neighbors would say." Harry said, Remus and Lily looked at him in concern, why would a little boy need to know something like that.

"**Out! OUT!" Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall.**

"Get you fat hands off my son Dursley if you know what's good for you." Lily snarled.

**When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.**

"**That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his mustache at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"**

**He looked so dangerous with half his mustache missing that no one dared argue. **

"Not to mention how ridiculous he looked." Harrysaid.

**Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.**

"It's about time they started to discipline him." Mrs. Weasley fumed.

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while.**

"**Shake 'em off… shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.**

"Please don't say it Ron, it's getting old."

"I'm sorry Harry but I'm just so proud of you."

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer. Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering…**

"I don't suppose you remember what you were wondering about do you Harry?" Hermione asked.

"No. It was most likely about where we were going or where the letter writer was or even who was writing to me." Harry said searching his memory. Hermione nodded in understanding.

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table.**

"'**Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk."**

**She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:**

_**Mr. H. Potter**_

_**Room 17**_

_**Railview Hotel**_

_**Cokeworth**_

**Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared.**

"Well don't just stare lady, do something, say something, anything." James cried out exasperated.

"**I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining room.**

"**Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her.**

"He should listen to her; she knows more about this then he does." Lily said frowning.

**Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.**

"**Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" **

"Oh well spotted Dudley." George said.

**Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon.** **Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared.** **It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley sniveled.**

"**It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a **_**television**_**."**

**Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it **_**was **_**Monday — and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days the week, because of television — then tomorrow, Tuesday,**

"Well done Harry, we are so proud to know that you know what the days of the week are." Fred said.

"A most wondrous achievement." George added.

**Was Harry's eleventh birthday.**

"Happy birthday!" The twins and Marauders shouted.

"It's not my birthday today guys." Harry said with a smile.

"We're practicing for when it is your birthday." Fred told him.

"Plus maybe we weren't talking to you maybe we were talking to book you. On account of we like to talk to books." George said smiling at Harry.

**Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun - last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.****Still, you weren't eleven every day.**

"Nope you're only eleven for a year." Bill said teasingly.

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling.**

"That can't be good." Charlie said.

"It was scary too, he shouldn't smile it's not a good look for him." Harry said.

**He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought.**

**"Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!" It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there.**

**"Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully,** **clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!" A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old row boat bobbing in the iron-grey water below them.**

**"I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!" It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces.** **After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.** **The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms. Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas.**

"Those aren't rations, they aren't even a snack." Ron said horrified.

"Ah and the stomach takes over again, right Ron?"

"Huh? Did you say something Hermione? Sorry I couldn't hear you over the lack of food just mentioned." All the people from the future laughed at Ron

**He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up.**

**"Could do with some of those letters now, eh." he said cheerfully.**

"How cruel, saying that to my poor baby." Lily said.

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.**

"You're such a pessimist sometimes Harry did you know that?"

"Aww, you know you love me for that Gin." Ginny just shook her head at him.

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.**

"Curse you Petunia. Oh and curse the other Dursley too." Lily said.

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger.**

"His stomach's always rumbling with hunger." Ron said.

"No that would be you Ron. It was so hard to sleep sometimes because all we could hear was your stomach at night." Neville said.

**Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now.**

**Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did.**

"Well you won't have to worry about that now." Remus said with determination.

**Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow.  
>Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that. And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise. Was the rock crumbling into the sea?<strong> **One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds... twenty ... ten...  
>nine - maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him<strong>

"Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do –" The twins and Marauders chanted but cut off when they saw Molly and Lily glaring at them

**- Three... two...  
>one...<br>BOOM.**

"Boom? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll see mom. It wasn't anything bad; in fact it was quite good." Harry said with a smirk.

**The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

"And that's the end of chapter three." Hermione announced.

* * *

><p><strong>So that's it for this chapter, again if you could please tell me your favorite parts so I know what sort of things yoou guys like and what I should add more of in the future that would be fantastic! Oh and I have a new story. It's a true story but changed to be more Harry Potter. It would mean so much to me if you guys could read that one too, and review it. It really helps me fight my sadness when I see reviews from my awesome readers and again thank you so much. I'm sorry for rambling and I'm sorry this chapter took so long please let me know what your favorite parts were PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU TO TELL ME YOU FAVORITE PART OF THIS CHAPTER. Okay now I'm done, just had to get that out of my system.<strong>


	6. The Keeper of the Keys

**Okay, so the disclaimer is still valid, I own pretty much nothing. Please review and tell me some of your favorite parts from any chapter. Also please read my other story and let me know what you think about it.**

* * *

><p><strong>The Keeper Of The Keys<strong>

"Blimey, is that -?" Ron said smiling towards Harry. Harry was grinning back.

"It is isn't it,"

"Who?" asked the twins.

"Rubeus Hagrid." Ron and Harry said together with wide smiles.

"Oh, him." James said. This sent Harry into a full on laughing attack.

"What's so funny Harry?" Percy asked.

"You'll see, in a few chapters." Harry said in between laughs.

**BOOM. **

"RONALD!" Hermione shouted.

"What? I promised Harry I would yell it." Ron said smiling.

**They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake.**

"**Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.**

"He can't say something stupidly, because that would imply that he could say something smart, but he can't." Harry said.

"That's my boy." James said.

**There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands. Now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.**

**"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you — I'm armed!"**

"Well guess what Mister –" George started.

"So are we." Fred ended.

"Even if it's not in the way he thinks it is." James said. The twins smiled at him hugely.

"Sir, if you don't stop making comments," Fred started.

"You'll have to prank with us." George ended.

"I would be honored to help you pull pranks." James told them, the twins smile got even bigger. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny started going red in the face, until finally Ron and Harry couldn't hold the laughter in anymore. They were red in the face and even had tears streaming down their faces. Ron was clutching his sides and Harry was wiping the tears off his face.

"What's so funny you four?" James asked. For some reason this made them laugh even harder. Finally, Harry held up three fingers, in response to the looks he and Ron were getting. Obviously everyone had begun to think they had lost it completely. Even the two men's wives were beginning to think they were crazy, I mean it was a funny thought, boy if the George from their time knew who Harry's dad really was he would be kissing the ground Harry walked on, for a different reason than the other people in the streets though. Still, it wasn't as funny as what Harry and Ron were making it out to be. Then the thought hit Ginny, this is a trigger. Maybe they don't think it's that funny but they'd rather laugh then cry because of Fred. Finally they stopped laughing.

"We'll explain after which book Ron? I mean if we were laughing for the same reason?" Harry said rather cautiously.

"Seventh. Definitely after the seventh." Ron said with a faraway look in his eyes. Harry nodded. Ginny's thought was right. Hermione put her hand comfortingly on Ron's shoulder. Ron shook his head, one quick shake, to shake away all the memories that were no doubt flooding his mind, and continued reading.

**There was a pause. Then —**

**SMASH!**

Ron yelled again, although not as loudly this time. He looked up and winked quickly at Remus. Remus' eyes went wide, _does he know? And not hate me for my furry problem?_

**The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.** **A giant of a man**

"HAGRID!" yelled everyone who knew Hagrid.

**Was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.**

"Harry! That makes Hagrid sound scary!" Hermione scolded.

"Oh yeah Hermione! Just wait until you show up in the book." Ron let out a small 'ha' at his wife's expense. "Oh so you think it's funny Ron? Just wait until you show up in the book." Now it was Hermione's turn to laugh at her husband.

**The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.**

"**Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey…"**

"Oh Hagrid. Do you ever change?" Lily asked.

"He'll never change. That's why we love him." James said smiling.

**He strode over to the sofa****where Dudley sat frozen with fear.**

"**Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.** **Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.**

"**An' here's Harry!" said the giant.** **Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.**

"**Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes."**

"First time I heard that. But certainly not the last." Harry said smiling.

"No that's the second time. Uncle Moony was first." Harry said smiling at Remus.

"eh details, details." Harry said waving his hand in dismissal.

**Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.**

"**I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"**

"**Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant;** **he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.** **Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.**

"**Anyway — Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here — I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."**

**From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with **_**Happy Birthday Harry **_**written on it in green icing****.**

"Oh the horror. More green. Why Hagrid? Why? I thought you were on our side." Ron said before bursting into fake tears.

"Oh honestly Ronald act your age for once." Hermione scolded.

"Never." Ron said with a smirk.

**Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"**

**The giant chuckled.**

"**True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."**

**He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.**

"**What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."**

**His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there.** **It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.** **The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat:** **a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea.**

"Geez Hagrid, think you have enough stuff in your pockets?" James asked.

**Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."**

**The giant chuckled darkly.**

**"Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."**

"Go Hagrid!" Yelled Remus, James, the Weasleys minus Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Harry, and Ginny. Mrs. Weasley and Hermione just shook their heads and smiled fondly at the antics of their families.

**He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."**

**The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.**

**"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts — yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course.**

**"Er — no," said Harry. Hagrid looked shocked.**

**"Sorry," Harry said quickly.**

**"**_**Sorry**_**?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"**

**"All what?" asked Harry.**

**"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered.**

"Oh Dursley's in trouble now." Ron and the twins said together.

**"Now wait jus' one second!"**

**He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.**

**"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy — this boy! — knows nothin' abou' — about ANYTHING?"**

"Harry's not going to like that." Hermione said knowingly. Harry just smirked.

**Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad.**

"**I know **_**some **_**things," he said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff."**

"Very impressive Harry." Fred said.

"Oh yes, quite impressive, you know so much stuff you can't even name all of it." George said with a laugh.

"No. That would be Hermione." Harry said, smirking towards Hermione.

"No Hermione. You can't hit him with the book. No. Stop trying to reach for it. No Hermione stop, stop it. Here take a pillow or something just not the book. I don't want to have to find the page again." Ron was yelling as he tried to keep the book away from Hermione, he then thrust a pillow into her hand which hit Harry on the shoulder.

**But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About **_**our **_**world, I mean. **_**Your **_**world. **_**My **_**world. **_**Yer parents' world**_**."**

"**What world?"** **Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.**

"**What world?"** **Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.** **Hagrid stared wildly at Harry. "But yeh must know about yer mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're **_**famous**_**. You're **_**famous**_**."**

"**What? My — my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?"**

"Well James likes to think he is but that doesn't make him famous." Remus said.

"yeah it just makes him a pigheaded jerk." Lily said smiling at James. _Well at least she didn't hex me. This time._James thought.

"**Yeh don' know… yeh don' know…" Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.**

"**Yeh don' know what yeh **_**are**_**?" he said finally.**

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.**

"Oh darn, we liked him better when he wasn't talking." Fred said.

"How many more chapters left until they're gone?" George asked.

"Yeah, I can't stand your relatives Harry." Ron said.

"That's okay Ron, I'm not too fond of them either." Harry assured him.

"When do we eat again?" Charlie asked.

"We just ate about a chapter ago Charlie." Mrs. Weasley said.

"I'm hungry too mom." Ron said.

"You're always hungry Ron." Bill said smiling at his little brother.

"**Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"**

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.**

"**You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"**

"**Kept **_**what **_**from me?" said Harry eagerly.**

"**STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.**

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.**

"They have such a dramatic flair those two." Harry said with a smile.

"What about Dudley? He's pretty dramatic too." Harry said to his older self, what a strange feeling it was.

"I almost forgot about him. " Harry admitted.

"**Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. **

"Alright Hagrid!" The twins yelled.

"We've rubbed off on him Moony." James said with a smirk.

"I don't know when I've been more proud of Hagrid." Remus said with a proud glint in his eyes.

"**Harry - yer a wizard." There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.**

"**I'm a **_**what**_**?" gasped Harry. **

"**A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."**

**Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. He pulled out the letter and read:**

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**_

**Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE **

**(**_**Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**_

**Dear Mr. Potter,**

**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**

**Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.**

**Yours sincerely, **

**Minerva McGonagall,**

_**Deputy Headmistress **_

"Hey that's what mine looked like!" James exclaimed.

"Well d-, we have the same last name." Harry said, pretending he hadn't almost said dad, he hoped no one would notice and yell at him and send him to the cupboard. Remus had enough tact to pretend he hadn't noticed, but it still worried him that Harry was afraid to say dad.

**Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?" **

"Oh wonderful first question Harry." Fred joked, or maybe it was George, Harry was still learning how to tell the difference between the twins.

"Well it wanted the owl that day, plus I don't know what it means by awaiting my owl." Harry explained. Remus started to explain owl post but Ron cut him off.

"**Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl - a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl **

**- a long quill, and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down: **

"Very impressive young Mr. Potter, Hagrid's handwriting tends to be hard to read even when it's right side up." Dumbledore said.

**Dear Professor Dumbledore,**

**Given Harry his letter.**

**Taking him to buy his things tomorrow.**

**Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.**

**Hagrid **

**Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone. **

"It is for wizards, we call it owl post, it's how we send letters instead of using a mailman." Remus explained to Harry who appeared to be utterly confused. Lily looked at him in shock.

"Marauder pact, one of us takes Muggle studies we all take Muggle studies. James wanted to talk to you, Sirius wanted to piss off his pureblood mum, I found it to be interesting, and Peter, well he was just along for the ride." Remus explained to Lily. No one noticed Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione's eyes grow dark at the mention of Peter.

**Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.**

"**Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.**

"**He's not going," he said. Hagrid grunted.**

"**I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.**

"**A what?" said Harry, interested.**

"**A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on." **

"**We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! **

"What does he mean by stamp it out of you? Did he ever touch you?" Harry shook his head no. Lily noticed that Harry hadn't said yes or no, maybe he didn't deem it as necessary.

**Wizard indeed!"**

"**You **_**knew**_**?" said Harry. "You **_**knew**_** I'm a - a wizard?"**

"**Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly.**

"_**Knew**_**! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that - that **_**school**_** - and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was - a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!" She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years. **

"She probably has, she was notorious for holding a grudge for an incredibly long time." Lily said sadly.

"**Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as - as - **_**abnormal**_** - and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!" **

**Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"**

"That's a horrible way to find out what happened." Percy said quietly.

"**CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back into their corner. **

"**How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!" **

"Oh the truth in that statement. It's ten times worse now." Ron said.

"Only ten Ron? More like a billion." Neville said smirking.

"Now you're both exaggerating." Harry said blushing.

"**But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.** **The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.**

"**I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. **

"**I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh - but someone's gotta - yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."**

"Oh could you imagine if he had?" Ron said with a smile.

"Yes, you being the tactless git you are would've told him he was some sort of hero and then start worshiping his feet." Hermione said.

"No, that's Ginny's job." Ron had to duck the well-aimed pillow Ginny sent him.

**He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.** "**Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh - mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it…."**

**He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with - with a person called - but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows -"**

"**Who?"**

"He's not going to say it Harry. We've tried." James said shaking his head.

"I bet he'll say it for me." Harry said smiling up at James.

"**Well - I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."**

"**Why not?"**

"**Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went…bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was…"**

**Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.**

"Told you, he's not going to say it." James said smiling victoriously.

"**Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.**

"**Nah - can't spell it. All right - **_**Voldemort**_**." **

"That makes your son ten times better than us Prongs, he actually got Hagrid to say Voldemort." Remus said, ignoring the flinches from the Weasleys. Harry noticed this though.

"You guys better get over that name. I bet Voldemort is an important character in the book and I'll be saying his name a whole bunch." Harry said cheekily to the Weasleys.

**Hagrid shuddered. **

"**Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this - this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too - some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches… terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him - an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. **

**Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway. **

"I wonder if he'll ever take the school." Remus said thoughtfully. He didn't notice all those from the future shift in their seats a little. Those who did notice, mainly Bill, Dumbledore, and Lily noticed but didn't say anything, they'd let the books say.

"**Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before… probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.**

"You got that right!" Yelled Remus and James.

"**Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em…maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' - an' -"**

**Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn. **

"I bet he just misses chasing us away from the forest." James said trying to lighten the mood, it didn't really work.

"**Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad - knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find - anyway… You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then - an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing - he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh - took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even - but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. **

Harry, James, and Lily sat there shell-shocked by that.

**No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age - the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts - an' you was only a baby, an' you lived." **

**Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before - and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold, cruel laugh. **

This was now flooding back into Harry's mind. Everyone there shuddered a little, but those who actually heard it were closing their eyes. Ron was shaking his head again to try and get rid of the memories that came from the war.

**Hagrid was watching him sadly.**

"**Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot…"**

"**Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped; he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. **

"Oh darn, we liked him better when he was too scared to talk." The twins said.

**He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.**

"**Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled. "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured **

"He better not have." Growled most of the adults, and well everyone but the two Harrys, one of whom was still adjusting to having people actually care about him.

**- and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdoes, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion - asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types - just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end -" **

"How dare he say that in front of you." Bill growled.

"I wouldn't be too worried, Harry here is mighty protective over his parents, and he gets pretty angry when you insult them, and you wouldn't like him when he's angry." Ron said shuddering at the thought of an angry Harry.

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley - I'm warning you - one more word…"**

**In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent. **

"**That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.** **Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.**

**"But what happened to Vol-, sorry - I mean, You-Know-Who?"**

"Don't be afraid to say the name Harry." James said.

"Fear of a name only increases fear in the thing itself." Harry recited smiling at his dad, he winked and said, "I got over not saying the name rather quickly. Didn't I Ron?"

"What? Oh yeah, you did. Too quickly for my taste too." Ron said.

"**Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see… he was gettin' more an' more powerful - why'd he go?** **Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back. Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on.**

"You got that right Hagrid." Harry said so low under his breath that not even Remus could hear with his super hearing.

**'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on - **_**I**_** dunno what it was, no one does - but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."**

**Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake. A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard? If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football? **

"**Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."**

**To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled. "Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?" Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it… every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry… chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach… dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back… and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him? **

"No you set it free, there's a difference." Ron said.

"Ron, why are you interrupting yourself?" Hermione asked him.

**Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him.**

"**See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard - you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts." **

**But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.**

"**Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish - spell books and wands and -" **

"**If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. **"**Stop Lily an' James Potter's son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had, Albus Dumbled-"**

"**I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon. **

"Ooooooo he's in for it now!" James said.

"Yeah you never insult Dumbledore in front of Hagrid." Remus said.

"I'm actually glad that he did though, first time I saw magic used for humor that I can remember." Harry said with a smile. Remus and James looked at him confused, and Ron didn't help any by reading ahead and bursting out laughing.

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER -" he thundered, "-INSULT - ALBUS - DUMBLEDORE - IN - FRONT - OF - ME!"**

**He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley - there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.**

Now all the pranksters were laughing, as well as those from the future, but not one person in that room was frowning, as they were too busy laughing.

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast on last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them. **

**Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.**

**"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do." **

"Oh Hagrid that makes it even better." James said with a chuckle.

"Well now Harry what are you? Since you live in a house of animals, a pig, a horse, and whale." George asked.

"I don't know, what animal do you think I should be?" Harry responded.

"We'll tell you when we find out more about your personality." George said as Fred nodded. They had had a short whispered conversation about which animal he was but they couldn't decide.

**He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows.**

"**Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm - er - not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff - one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job -"**

"**Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.**

"**Oh, well - I was at Hogwarts meself but I - er - got expelled, ter tell you the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore." **

"**Why were you expelled?" **

"He won't tell you. He never told us." James said.

"I got him to say Voldemort." Harry said.

"True, but he won't tell you why he was expelled. Will he?" James said turning away from Harry and asking the older Harry.

"We'll have to keep reading to find out." Harry said smugly.

"So you do know!" James exclaimed. _Poor James won't find out until book two._ Ron thought to himself.

"I do, but you may or may not find out over the course of the books." Harry said with a smile.

**"It's getting' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."**

**He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.**

**"You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets." **

"YAY! We are done with chapter four. Who's next?" Ron asked.

"That would be me little bro." Bill said.

"I'm older then you." Ron said.

"Not if you go back to your time, plus I was born first so I get to call you little bro regardless of what you say." After that Ron handed him the book.

"Sweet a chapter without the Dursleys. We're getting closer to Hogwarts." Bill said.

* * *

><p><strong>Again PLEASE TELL ME YOUR FAVORITE PARTS OF ALL TIME SO FAR! I'M BEGGING YOU! PLEASE! Seeing people review and like my story really helps me soilder on with all the hard things I'm going through right now. So PLEASE TELL ME YOUR FAVORITE PARTS FROM ANY OF THE CHAPTERS! IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE JUST THIS ONE!<strong>


	7. Diagon Alley

** Disclaimer! I don't own Hary Potter. Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing, sorry it took so long but I've been dealling with a lot of hard stuff I'd rather not talk about so on with the story.**

* * *

><p><strong>Diagon Alley<strong>

James and Lily sighed as the title was read; they should've been the ones to take Harry to Diagon Alley.

**Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight.**

"**It was a dream," he told himself firmly. "I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard."**

"That's not home, home is where your heart is, and I doubt your heart is with the Dursleys." Ron said to Harry, rather wisely. Hermione and Ron were staring at him.

"When were you ever that wise?" Hermione asked surprised.

"I think the better question is what the hell happened to that wise Ron, Hermione. I mean I know I have my moments, but I hadn't thought about saying that." Ron said smiling at his younger self.

**There was suddenly a loud tapping noise. And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door, Harry thought, his heart sinking. But he still didn't open his eyes. It had been such a good dream. Tap. Tap. Tap. **

"**All right," Harry mumbled, "I'm getting up." He sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak. Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling up inside him.**

"Yay! Harry has a happy balloon now! Three cheers for Harry! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!" James yelled, Remus, Neville and the twins joined in once they realized what James was going to say. Ron and Harry also joined in just to annoy Hermione and Ginny only to have them join in too, for the same reason.

"Oh great, my son grows up to be like James. Hogwarts will never be the same." Lily said. Those from the future exchanged a quick glance that went unnoticed by everyone else, it was true Hogwarts wasn't the same, but it was for a different reason.

**He went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.**

"Nasty, vicious little things. I can't stand them." James said.

"I'd rather deal with them, then the press." Harry said.

"**Don't do that" Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat. **

"**Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl –"**

"**Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.**

"**What?"**

"**He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets." Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing but pockets – bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags . . . finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.**

"They aren't that strange looking." Ron said indignantly.

"America. Remember that last year? What did you say about their money, the _first time you saw it_?" Harry asked. Ron blushed.

"What are you talking about?" Remus asked.

"Oh see, Ron and I had been transferred to America for a year to help their government of magic. So we had to go to this place called Washington D.C. Ron and I stayed with this real nice man named Alex, and his family. His wife Heather, who is a Muggle, started taking Hermione, Ginny, Teddy and Jamie around showing them all the tourist spots while we worked. As a matter of fact they are the reason we're here reading these books, but I'll tell you more about that later, we should keep reading now." Harry explained.

"Who's Teddy?" Molly asked, as though hoping for another grandchild.

"Oh he's my godson. He's with his grandmother right now. We only took him because his grandmother thought it would be a good experience for him." Harry explained.

"**Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.**

"**Knuts?"**

"**The little bronze ones." Harry counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so Harry could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off through the open window. Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched.**

"Well if he was going to get up why'd he make you pay?" Ginny asked.

"Why did Heather hand us money and tell us to pay while we were there?" Harry asked her in response.

"Oh! Oh! I know! I know! Can I say it? Can I say it? Please, oh please, oh please." Ron said bouncing in his seat waving his hand in the air like a spider monkey jacked up on Mountain Dew.

"Go ahead Ron." Harry said shaking his head fondly.

"She gave us it to teach us how Muggle American money works." Ron said smiling and rocking back and forth in his seat.

"You had Mountain Dew before you got here didn't you." Hermione accused him. Ron looked around innocently.

"Maayybee." He said refusing to look Hermione in the eye.

"This is why we don't let you have it Ronald, you can't handle the sugar and you act like an idiot." Ginny scolded him.

"**Best be off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school." Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. He had just thought of something that made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture.**

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Yelled James, Remus, and the twins. "Not the happy balloon. No, you can't lose the happy balloon." They started to mock cry.

"**Um – Hagrid?"**

"**Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.**

"**I haven't got any money –and you heard Uncle Vernon last night . . .he won't pay for me to go and learn magic."**

"**Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"**

"**But if their house was destroyed –"**

"We have a bank you know Harry, it's a tad safer that way." Percy informed Harry politely.

**"They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop yer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold -an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."**

**"Wizards have **_**banks**_**?"**

**"Just the one, Gringotts. Run by goblins."**

**Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.**

**"**_**Goblins**_**!"**

"Nasty little pieces of work they are too, I mean really, it was for the better of society, I was trying to save the world!" Harry muttered.

"It's okay Harry, we all make mistakes."

"Oh, shut up Ron! You went with me remember?" Harry said, and then he pouted until everyone started laughing at him.

**"Yeah - so ye'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that.**

"Yeah Harry, you should listen to Hagrid." Hermione said smiling.

"Nobody forced you to go." Harry responded.

**Never mess with goblins, Harry.**

"Yes, listen to Hagrid Harry." Neville said smirking.

"Shut up Neville you weren't even there."

"What are you talking about?" Lily asked.

"Seventh book." Replied everyone from the future.

**Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe — 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." **

"Oh, so it was Hagrid's fault. That's just great. Thanks a lot Hagrid."

"What are you talking about Hermione?" Lily asked.

"You'll find out as the story goes on, I wouldn't want to spoil any of the surprises." Hermione responded.

**Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you — gettin' things from Gringotts — knows he can trust me, see. Got everythin'? Come on, then." Harry followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm.**

**"****How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat.**

**"****Flew," said Hagrid.**

"He flew? How is that possible?" James asked in disbelief. Remus, and everyone else that knew Hagrid, apart from Dumbledore, was thinking along the same lines.

"_**Flew**_**?"**

"**Yeah — but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."**

**They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.**

"I think we're all doing the same thing." Bill said.

"**Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Harry another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter — er — speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"**

"**Of course not," said Harry, eager to see more magic. Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off toward land.**

"**Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked.**

"Hm, let's stop and think about that for a moment Harry." Ron teased.

"You know I do believe there are several reasons as to why one would be mad to break into Gringotts. Shall we count the ways Ron?"

"Why yes Neville I believe we shall. First –"

"If you two don't shut up, you will lose the ability to reproduce, think about how unhappy that would make Hermione, Ron." Harry said Ron and Neville gulped audibly. Hermione shifted in her seat a little and smiled at Ginny who smiled in return.

"**Spells — enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there's dragons guardin' the high security vaults.**

Harry glared at Neville and Ron to keep them from saying anything.

**And then yeh gotta find yer way — Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."****Harry sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the **_**Daily Prophet**_**. Harry had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, he'd never had so many questions in his life.**

**"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.**

**"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself.**

"'**Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job.**

"That idiot? How did he win?" Remus asked.

**Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."**

**"But what does a Ministry of Magic **_**do**_**?"**

**"Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."**

**"Why?"**

**"**_**Why? **_**Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."**

**At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper, and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street.** **Passersby stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station.****Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Harry? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"**

"Sounds like Hagrid is channeling a bit of dad there."

"Oh like you're one to talk Ron. I seem to remember a few incidents where you sounded just like you're dad." Harry said.

"**Hagrid," said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are **_**dragons **_**at Gringotts?"**

"Yep there are."

"Not you too Hermione! You're going to ruin the seventh book. I want them to be surprised when they read it." Harry said.

"I think they rob Gringotts in the seventh book." James said leaning over the twins to talk to Remus.

"There's no way."

"Wanna bet?"

"I can't, I'm out of money, but alright, how much?"

"How about a galleon?"

"Deal." They both smiled and tried to look innocent as the reading continued.

"**Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."**

"**You'd **_**like **_**one?"**

"**Wanted one ever since I was a kid — here we go."**

**They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the bills to Harry so he could buy their tickets.**

"Oh, it's not that hard to use!" Lily said.

"It has the numbers on it and they're easier numbers to add and subtract than sixteen and twenty-seven." Hermione added.

**People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.**

"I never did find out what that was for." Harry commented.

"**Still got yer letter, Harry?" he asked as he counted stitches.**

**Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket.**

"**Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need."**

**Harry unfolded a second piece of paper he hadn't noticed the night before, and read:**

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**_

_**UNIFORM**_

_**First-year students will require:**_

_**1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)**_

_**2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear**_

_**3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)**_

_**4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)**_

_**Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags**_

"I see that hasn't changed." Lily said.

_**COURSE BOOKS**_

_**All students should have a copy of each of the following:**_

_**The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk**_

_**A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot**_

_**Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling**_

_**A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch**_

_**One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore**_

_**Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger**_

_**Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander**_

_**The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble**_

"That's about the same, although the defense book is new. Is the curse still there?" James asked.

"Nope, it was lifted in nineteen-ninety-eight." Harry said smiling.

"Oh so your seventh year at school." Lily said.

"You could say that." Ron said with a smirk.

_**OTHER EQUIPMENT**_

_**1 wand**_

_**1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)**_

_**1 set of glass or crystal phials**_

_**1 telescope set**_

_**1 brass scales**_

_**Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad**_

_**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS**_

"Worst rule ever." James said. Neville and Ron smirked at Harry.

"**Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud.**

"**If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.**

**Harry had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow.**

"**I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops.** **Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harry had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up?**

"They have no sense of humor." Harry said.

"And they don't approve of imagination." The twins added.

**If Harry hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humor, he might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told him so far was unbelievable, Harry couldn't help trusting him.**

"**This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."** **It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it.**

"Oh, thank you Capitan Obvious, I would never have guessed." Lily said.

"You're welcome Sargent Sarcastic." Harry replied with a straight face. James and Remus started laughing, everyone else was smiling, even Lily.

"Oh Prongs, he is so your son. Why didn't you ever think of calling Lily Sargent Sarcastic?"

"Moony, do you think I would've lived if I had?"

**Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside.** **For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut. The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?"**

"**Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder and making Harry's knees buckle.**

"Thanks Hagrid." Harry muttered.

"**Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Harry, "is this — can this be —?"**

"Michael Jackson?" Hermione said.

"Michael J. Fox?" Ron said.

"I hate you both." Harry said. Ron and Hermione started laughing.

"That's why we pick on you." Ron said smiling.

**The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent.**

**"Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter… what an honor."**

**He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes.**

**"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."**

**Harry didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realizing it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming. Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.**

**"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."**

**"So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."**

**"Always wanted to shake your hand — I'm all of a flutter."**

**"Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."**

**"I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."**

"Oh great, now he's going to wet himself with excitement. Just like he does to this day." Ron said.

"Hey. I happen to like Dedalus. I don't see what your problem with him is." Harry said.

"**He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!" Harry shook hands again and again — Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.** **A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.**

"**Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."**

"**P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."**

"That stutter must have been quite annoying." Lily said.

"Oh you have no idea." Ron said.

**"****What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"**

**"****D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it.**

"I bet the stutter's fake. I also bet that he's going to be a crappy defense teacher." James said.

"Well, he actually taught us something, even if he was terrified and stuttering, so I'd put him as fourth or fifth best teacher. Out of the seven." Hermione said. Harry and Ron looked at her like she was crazy. They only had six teachers.

"She added you idiot." Ginny whispered to Harry.

"**N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought. But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.**

**"Must get on — lots ter buy. Come on, Harry."**

**Doris Crockford shook Harry's hand one last time, and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds. Hagrid grinned at Harry.**

**"Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh — mind you, he's usually tremblin'."**

"**Is he always that nervous?"**

"**Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience… They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag — never been the same since.**

"Oh that is so not what he met." Harry muttered to himself.

**Scared of the students, scared of his own subject — now, where's me umbrella?"****Vampires? Hags? Harry's head was swimming. Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can.**

**"Three up… two across…" he muttered. "Right, stand back, Harry."**

**He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.**

**The brick he had touched quivered — it wriggled — in the middle, a small hole appeared — it grew wider and wider — a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.**

**"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."**

**He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.**

**The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons — All Sizes — Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver — Self-Stirring — Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.**

"**Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."**

**Harry wished he had about eight more eyes.**

"Again with the spider references. What, do you hate me or something?" Ron said.

"Sorry Ron I never thought that my private thoughts would be read aloud."

"Oh right. Sorry."

"Tact Ron." Hermione said.

"Okay, I want you to hit me every time I do something tactless from here on out, including in the books. Okay?" Ron said to Hermione. Hermione smiled and agreed.

"You're going to regret saying that by the time all the books end mate." Harry said laughing.

**He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, sixteen Sickles an ounce, they're mad…"A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium — Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand — fastest ever —"**

James perked up at the mention of a new broom as did Charlie.

**There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon…**

"Darn it, I wanted more information on the broom." James mumbled.

"**Gringotts," said Hagrid.**

**They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was —**

"**Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:**

_**Enter, stranger, but take heed**_

_**Of what awaits the sin of greed,**_

_**For those who take, but do not earn,**_

_**Must pay most dearly in their turn.**_

_**So if you seek beneath our floors**_

_**A treasure that was never yours,**_

_**Thief, you have been warned, beware**_

_**Of finding more than treasure there.**_

"**Like I said, Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.**

"Yeah Harry listen to Hagrid."

"You know, no one force you to tag along on that trip, and I'd appreciate it if you guys stopped giving away hints about the future." Harry said slightly annoyed.

**A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter.**

"**Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe."**

"**You have his key, sir?"**

"**Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of moldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harry watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.**

"**Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key.** **The goblin looked at it closely.**

"**That seems to be in order."**

"**An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."**

"Damn it so it's all Hagrid's fault. He just had to say that in front of the most curious person I know."

"Oooo, Hagrid's in for it now." Harry said teasingly.

"Yeah, he got Hermione to swear, very impressively scary too if I might add." Ron added.

**The goblin read the letter carefully.**

"**Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"** **Griphook was yet another goblin.****Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Harry followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall.**

**"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.**

**"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."****Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in — Hagrid with some difficulty — and were off.**

"I love those carts." James said.

"Of course you would. You are the star Quidditch player." Lily said teasingly. James looked at her in surprise and she chuckled. Lily hadn't teased him about Quidditch before. _Oh yes, I like these books a lot._ James thought to himself with a smile.

**At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible.**

"That's still better than most people." Percy said.

**The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.**

**Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late**

— **they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.**

"**I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"**

"Well a stalagmite –"

"Don't Hermione. The book will explain." Harry said.

"**Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid.**

Ron and Harry exchange a high-five with a straight face and without looking at each other. Hermione just scowled at the two of them.

**"An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."****He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.**

**Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.**

**"All yours," smiled Hagrid.**

**All Harry's — it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London. Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag.**

"**The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"**

"One speed only." Remus said.

"Yeah, the speed of awesome." James and Harry added at the same time.

"You're both insane." Lily said.

"That's why you love us though." James said with a smile.

"I know, now stop reminding me." Lily said smiling.

"**One speed only," said Griphook.**

**They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Harry leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.** **Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.**

"**Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.**

"**If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.**

"**How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.**

"**About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin.**

**Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, Harry was sure, and he leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least **— **but at first he thought it was empty. Then he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor.**

"I wonder what it is." Remus said.

"I think it's the stone." Percy said.

"What makes you say that Perce?" Charlie asked.

"It's the title of the book, it makes sense."

**Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask.**

"**Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.**

**One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn't know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money. He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that he was holding more money than he'd had in his whole life — more money than even Dudley had ever had.**

"**Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Harry entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.**

**"Hogwarts, dear?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here — another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."**

"Oh is this one of your friends then?" Lily asked. Harry started laughing uncontrollably. Everyone looked at him strangely.

"It – it was –the – the ferret." He said in response to the strange looks in between laughs. Ron started to laugh with him, as did everyone Neville, Hermione and Ginny.

**In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.**

"**Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"**

"**Yes," said Harry.**

"**My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy.** **He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."**

"I don't think I like him." Lily said.

"That's okay, we don't like him much either." Neville said.

**Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.**

"**Have **_**you **_**got your own broom?" the boy went on.**

"**No," said Harry.**

"**Play Quidditch at all?"**

"**No," Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.**

"NO! My son has to know what Quidditch is. It's the best sport in the world. Please tell me you know what Quidditch is." James said looking at Harry.

"I do, but I don't like it. I think it's boring."

"You are no son of mine." James said looking deeply hurt. The people from the future were having trouble fighting back laughs. Lily and Remus just shook their heads. Harry looked a little hurt. Lily noticed this.

"Your dad doesn't mean it, he's just being an idiot like always. Besides your still my son." Lily said. James looked over at Harry, and felt ashamed; he hadn't meant what he said in that sense.

"I'm sorry Harry, I meant older you, not you. Wait that's not what I meant either. It's okay if you don't like Quidditch, you're still my son." James said and then he hugged Harry.

"I'm impressed, that was very sweet and deep coming from you James." Lily said. James just smiled at her.

"_**I **_**do — Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"**

"**No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.**

"**Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been — imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"**

"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff. Some of the best people come from Hufflepuff." Charlie said in his best friend's defense.

"As long as you aren't in Slytherin, I'll still love you, and Lily won't care as long as you're happy, but I know you'll be a Gryffindor. Anybody able to put up with the Dursley's is brave." James said. Harry just nodded, hoping he wouldn't be put in Slytherin.

"**Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting.**

"**I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.**

"**That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."**

"**Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"**

"**He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second. **

"So are we." Everyone but those from the future and Dumbledore said.

"**Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of **_**savage **_— **lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."**

"**I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.**

"_**Do **_**you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"**

"**They're dead," said Harry shortly. **

Lily and James looked sad at the reminder. They were also vowing to change the future so this wouldn't happen.

**He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy.**

"**Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all.**

"**But they were **_**our **_**kind, weren't they?"**

"I don't like him. He sounds like a Malfoy." James said.

"**They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."**

"**I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"****But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.**

**"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.**

**Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).**

"**What's up?" said Hagrid.**

"**Nothing," Harry lied.**

**They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed color as you wrote. When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"**

"**Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know — not knowin' about Quidditch!"**

"**Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. He told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's.**

"— **and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in —"**

"Which is complete bull-"

"James! Watch your mouth, there are small children in the room." Lily said.

"Right, what I meant was that's complete BS because Lily is one of the best witches I know."

"Aw, that's sweet of you James." Lily said, they smiled at each other.

"**Yer not **_**from **_**a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh **_**were **_— **he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles — look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"**

"**So what **_**is **_**Quidditch?"**

"**It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like — like soccer in the Muggle world — everyone follows Quidditch — played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls — sorta hard ter explain the rules."**

"It is not!" James said indignantly.

"And there goes the sweetness." Lily said.

"**And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"**

"**School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but —"**

"He was going to say that he didn't think that." Harry said quickly when he saw the look on Charlie's face.

"**I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harry gloomily.**

"**Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."**

"Good and bad people come from every house." Hermione said.

"But Slytherin has Malfoy, that's enough of a reason to hate them." Ron said quietly to Hermione.

"**Vol-, sorry —You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"**

"**Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.**

**They bought Harry's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from **_**Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) **_**by Professor Vindictus Viridian.**

"**I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley."**

"That's my boy!" James exclaimed proudly.

"**I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."**

**Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop).**

**Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.**

"**Just yer wand left — A yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."**

"That's sweet of him." Lily said.

**Harry felt himself go red.**

"**You don't have to —"**

"**I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at**

"OI! I happened to be quite fond of Trevor. He was one of my best friends." Neville said in defense of Trevor.

"Neville, I'm not sure how to break it to you, but Trevor hated you and everything in life, he kept running away remember?" Ron said. Hermione smacked him.

"Need I remind you about you and Scabbers before third year?" Neville said.

**an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."**

**Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. He couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell.**

"**Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now — only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."**

**A magic wand… this was what Harry had been really looking forward to.** **The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.****A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled.**

"Impressive, only really powerful witches and wizards can actually feel that." James said.

"Really? Because, I got that feeling too" Neville said.

"Neville how many times do I have to tell you, you're an awesome wizard when you're confident in something." Harry said.

**The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.**

"**Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair.**

**An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.**

"**Hello," said Harry awkwardly.**

"**Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."**

Lily got out her wand and looked at it, "that's one of my best subjects too, how does he remember that?"

**Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.** **"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."**

"Hey, transfiguration is one of my best subjects."

**Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.**

"**And that's where…"**

**Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger.**

"**I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands… well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…"**

**He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid.**

"**Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again… Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"**

"**It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.**

"**Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.**

"**Er — yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.**

"**But you don't **_**use **_**them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.**

"**Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.**

**"Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now — Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"**

**"Er — well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.**

"**Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."**

**Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.**

"**That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."**

**Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.**

"**Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try —"**

**Harry tried — but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.**

"**No, no — here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."**

**Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.**

"**Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, now — yes, why not — unusual combination — holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."**

**Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers.**

"Are we done yet? This is getting boring. How long did it take you to get your wand?" James whined.

"We're almost done." Harry promised.

**He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls.**

**Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well… how curious… how very curious…"**

**He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious… curious…"**

"**Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"**

**Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.**

"**I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother — why, its brother gave you that scar."**

"Wow. I'm not sure how to respond to that." Remus said. "But, it doesn't change who you are."

"**Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter… After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great."**

"Is he praising You-Know-Who?" Ginny asked.

"I think he's just talking about the magic involved, not the purpose." Harry said. Ginny blushed at having Harry talk to her.

**Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.****The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawking at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Harry's lap. Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Harry only realized where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder.**

**"Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said.**

**He bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow.**

"**You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid.**

**Harry wasn't sure he could explain. He'd just had the best birthday of his life — and yet — he chewed his hamburger, trying to find the words.**

"**Everyone thinks I'm special," he said at last.**

"Everyone's special in their own way. Some just take more time to find that out, like Neville. He was a complete wimp –" Hermione started.

"Hey!"

"Until fifth year, and then he really showed his true colors in seventh." Hermione continued, ignoring Neville.

"**All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander… but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol-, sorry — I mean, the night my parents died."**

"See Ron I don't always say Voldemort." Harry said. This time Charlie and Bill didn't flinch.

**Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.**

"**Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts — I did — still do, 'smatter of fact."**

"That was well said Hagrid." Charlie said.

**Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take him back to the Dursleys, then handed him an envelope.**

"**Yer ticket fer Hogwarts," he said. "First o' September — King's Cross — it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me…. See yeh soon, Harry."**

"Wait, he forgot to tell you how to get on the platform. How did you find it?" Lily said worriedly.

"Let's just say I had a bit of help from a friend." Harry said. Ron smiled.

**The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone.**

"And that's the end of the chapter." Bill handed the book to Charlie.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so it's official, I can't stand my laptop sometimes. Anyway, thanks again to everyone who reviewed, and I'm sorry it took me so long to update.<strong>


	8. The Journey from Platform 9 and 34

**Well, here's the new chapter for you guys. Don't forget to let me know what you're favorite parts are so I can try to add more of them. Remember, if I don't know what you like how can I add what you like. Also, a question I forgot to ask from the last chapter, who can tell me why Hermione fidgeted and smiled when Harry mentioned reproducing with Ron? One awesome point to whoever gets the right answer first. Winners will be posted in the next chapter.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>The Journey From Platform Nine and Three-Quarters <strong>

Charlie read.

"Yay no more Dursleys and you're on your way to Hogwarts!" Ron said.

**Harry's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun. True, Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn't stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything, or shout at him — in fact, they didn't speak to him at all.**

"That could become depressing." Lily said, having experience with Petunia doing that during the holidays.

**Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with Harry in it were empty.** **Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while** **Harry kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had decided to call her Hedwig, a name he had found in **_**A History of Magic**_**. His school books were very interesting.**

"HA! See Hermione I did read it. Not only did I read it but I even got information from it." Harry said to Hermione.

**He lay on his bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn't come in to vacuum anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice. Every night before he went to sleep, Harry ticked off another day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first. On the last day of August he thought he'd better speak to his aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day, so he went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room. **

"That would be funny to see." Remus said.

**"Er — Uncle Vernon?" Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.**

"**Er — I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to — to go to Hogwarts."** **Uncle Vernon grunted again.**

**"Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?" Grunt. Harry supposed that meant yes.**

**"****Thank you."****He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke.**

**"****Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"****Harry didn't say anything.**

**"****Where is this school, anyway?"**

**"****I don't know," said Harry, realizing this for the first time. He pulled the ticket Hagrid had given him out of his pocket.**

**"****I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," he read.****His aunt and uncle stared.**

**"Platform what?"**

"Petunia should know what it is." Lily said.

"Yeah, I saw her there in sixth year!" Remus added.

"How come I didn't see her there?" James asked.

"You were too busy drooling over Lily." Remus said.

"Oh yeah." James said as the memory dawned on him.

"**Nine and three-quarters."**

"**Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon. "There is no platform nine and three-quarters."**

"**It's on my ticket."**

"**Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."**

**"****Why are you going to London?" Harry asked, trying to keep things friendly.**

**"****Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."**

"I think it fits his personality, they should leave it." Harry said smiling.

"I think he looks better with the tail." Ron said. He and Harry high-fived.

**Harry woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep.** **He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes **

"He can learn! Now I just have to work on Ron" Hermione said excited. Harry looked offended.

"Excuse me, but I was raised as a Muggle, I know how to blend in with Muggles."

"I know you do Harry, I said that now I just have to work on Ron."

**He'd change on the train. He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up.** **Two hours later, Harry's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked**

"Cough, bribed cough, cough, oh excuse me, I just had a nasty cough attack." Ron said smiling.

**Dudley into sitting next to Harry, and they had set off.****They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Harry's trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for him.**

"He's being nice Moony, something's up." James said with his eyebrows creased.

"What's the worst he could do James?" Lily asked.

"He'll probably leave me there and laugh." Harry said shrugging as if this was totally normal.

**Harry thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.**

"**Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine — platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"** **He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.**

"**Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing.**

"How dare they!" Lily said. James was silent, his face was blank, and he had a gleam in his eyes that Ron knew only too well after growing up with the twins. Ron smiled; he knew that a magnificent prank would soon befall the unfortunate Dursleys.

**Harry's mouth went rather dry. What on earth was he going to do? He was starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. He'd have to ask someone. He stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters.** **The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when Harry couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed, as though Harry was being stupid on purpose. Getting desperate, Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard said there wasn't one.**

"That could be a problem." Remus said.

"Ya think?" Charlie asked sarcastically.

**In the end the guard strode away, muttering about time wasters. Harry was now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, he had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and he had no idea how to do it; he was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk he could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money, and a large owl. Hagrid must have forgotten to tell him something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. He wondered if he should get out his wand and start tapping the ticket inspector's stand between platforms nine and ten.**

"That wouldn't be very smart." Percy grimaced.

"How did you get onto the platform if you had no clue?" Ron asked.

"You could say he got a little help from some awesome people." Ron told his younger self with a smirk.

**At that moment a group of people passed just behind him and he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"— **packed with Muggles, of course —"**

"You should follow them, they could help you." Lily said.

"I did." Harry said smiling.

**Harry swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair.**

"Hey!" George said.

"That's us!" Fred added.

"No better people to help you then us Weasleys." Bill said.

"Ooo this means Ron's description is coming up." Hermione said excitedly.

"That means yours will too Hermione." Harry reminded her smiling.

**Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him — and they had an **_**owl**_**.**

"So you followed them just because they had an owl?" Hermione said in disbelief.

"No I followed them because they used the word Muggle _and_ they had an owl. Two things Muggles don't do." Harry said.

**Heart hammering, Harry pushed his cart after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying.**

"**Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.**

"**Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mom, can't I go…"**

"Hey that's me!" Ginny said.

"**You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."**

**What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten.**

**Harry watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it — but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.**

"That's rotten luck." Charlie said.

"I'll try to go slower when we do this in a few years." Percy said.

"That's not necessary, I'm sure the book will say how it's done." Harry said.

"I'll still go slow just to show you how it's done." Percy said smirking.

"Did you just joke Perce?" Fred asked.

"We haven't heard you joke in a long time Perce." George said.

"**Fred, you next," the plump woman said.**

"**I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you **_**tell **_**I'm George?"**

Molly rolled her eyes, the twins always did this.

"Man, I wish I had a twin just so I could do that to my mum." James said.

"Don't worry, you have Harry." Ron said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" James asked.

"Well look at him, if he would've had your eyes, he could be your twin." Ron said. James looked at the boy sitting next to him.

"I think I like him with Lily's eyes though, I love Lily's eyes." James said looking at Ron with a very serious face. Lily blushed, and smiled, then she caught herself. _No, it's Jam- no Potter, and Potter is a pig-headed jerk who only thinks of himself. You will not fall for him. It doesn't matter how adorable Harry is, you will not fall for James bloody Potter._

"**Sorry, George, dear."**

"**Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy,**

"When one layer of deception and trickery isn't enough." Remus said with a thoughtful smile.

"Keep on adding until you confuse the hell out of people and when they finally figure it out, act like you have no clue what they're talking about and eventually they'll think they've gone crazy." James said smirking at Remus who was smiling back.

"Have a lot of practice with that do you Potter?" Lily asked.

"Of course he does, the Marauders have their secrets, but what they don't know is that all their secrets will be revealed in time. Yes James, Remus, I do mean all. Be afraid, be very afraid." Harry smiled as James and Remus looked worried.

**And off he went. His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone — but how had he done it? Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier he was almost there — and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.** **There was nothing else for it.**

"**Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.**

"**Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."**

"So now we get my description. I hope it isn't too bad." Ron said.

"I could care less what you look like, you're still my friend." Harry said.

**She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.**

"Really Harry? Really? Big feet?" Ron said.

"Well you know what they say about big feet." Hermione said smiling at Ron who started blushing. All the older kids that understood it were laughing, mainly Charlie's age and above. Lily was smiling but shaking her head. Molly groaned. Arthur merely smiled, as did Dumbledore. Remus and James were trying, and failing, to hold back their chortles. All the younger kids looked confused as to why this would get such a response from the older people.

"What do they say about big feet?" Ginny asked.

"That they, um, that they need big shoes, clown shoes." Hermione informed the six year old.

"What are clowns?" Ginny asked.

"Never mind."

"**Yes," said Harry. "The thing is — the thing is, I don't know how to —"**

"**How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded.**

"**Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."**

"**Er — okay," said Harry**. **He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.** **He started to walk toward it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that barrier and then he'd be in trouble — leaning forward on his cart, he broke into a heavy run — the barrier was coming nearer and nearer — he wouldn't be able to stop — the cart was out of control — he was a foot away — he closed his eyes ready for the crash — It didn't come… he kept on running… he opened his eyes. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said **_**Hogwarts' Express, eleven o'clock**_**. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words **_**Platform Nine and Three-Quarters **_**on it, He had done it.**

"Well no duh, it's not like you were going to crash into the wall." Charlie said.

"Not this year anyway." Ron said quietly to Harry smirking.

**Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks. The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry pushed his cart off down the platform in search of an empty seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."**

"Ha! Take that Ron! My introductory description wasn't bad at all." Neville said.

"**Oh, **_**Neville**_**," he heard the old woman sigh.**

"Where are your parents Neville?" Harry asked, he didn't mean any harm by it, but he lived with the Dursleys, and they went with Dudley everywhere.

"Harry," Lily started to reprimand him, but Neville cut her off.

"He wasn't here when I introduced myself Lily." Neville said. Lily nodded. "My parents are – were – really – erm – sick, when it was time for me to go to Hogwarts." Harry nodded, he wanted to ask if they were feeling better, but the look on Neville's face as he said 'sick' told him it would be better if he didn't push it.

**A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.**

"**Give us a look, Lee, go on."** **The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.**

Both Rons shuddered, although Ron's was a little less. Fred's apology earlier in the book had helped him.

**Harry pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. He tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he dropped it painfully on his foot.**

"Hey I've done that before." Bill said with a chuckle.

"**Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the barrier.**

"I bet it's George." Percy said.

"You can't know that Perce, we didn't get a description other then one of the twins." Ginny said.

"That's why it's a guess."

"**Yes, please," Harry panted.**

"**Oy, Fred!**

"Aw come on!" George said.

"Does that mean Percy can tell us apart even in a book?" Fred sounded upset by the thought of not being able to use one of their favorite tricks anymore.

**C'mere and help!"**

**With the twins' help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.**

"**Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.**

"**What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.**

"**Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you —?"**

"**He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.**

"**What?" said Harry.**

"_**Harry Potter**_**." chorused the twins.**

"**Oh, him," said Harry.**

"OH! Now it makes sense." James exclaimed.

"**I mean, yes, I am."** **The two boys gawked at him, and Harry felt himself turning red.**

"Sorry." The twins chorused.

"Don't feel too bad about it, it hasn't happened yet." Harry said smiling.

**Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.**

**"Fred? George? Are you there?"**

**"Coming, Mum." With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train. Harry sat down next to the window where, half hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying.**

"I'm so proud." James said. Lily, on the other hand, wasn't as pleased.

"Harry, it's not right to eavesdrop." She reprimanded.

**Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.**

"**Ron, you've got something on your nose."**

**The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.**

"Oh man. That's social murder right there." Bill sighed.

"How do you reverse the murder?" Ron asked worried.

"Well, you there are several ways but they tend to be difficult. You could become best friends with a popular person, or join the Quidditch team and be the star of Quidditch, but like I said they're difficult." Bill said.

"Well, damn Ron that makes you just as popular as me." Harry said quietly.

"Don't worry Ronnie; I won't do that to you this time." Molly said.

**"**_**Mom**_**— geroff" He wriggled free.**

**"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins.**

"I see what you meant about murder Bill." Molly said.

"It's not good to tease your brothers." Lily said. "It's great, especially if you don't let outsiders tease them."

"Lily Evans! You! A supporter of teasing!" James exclaimed in shock.

"There's a difference between harmless brotherly teasing and joking around, and bullying." Was all she said.

"**Shut up," said Ron.**

"**Where's Percy?" said their mother.**

"**He's coming now."** **The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Harry noticed a red and gold badge on his chest with the letter **_**P **_**on it.**

"**Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves —"**

"Cool, I'm a prefect." Percy said.

"**Oh, are you a **_**prefect**_**, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."**

"**Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once —"**

"**Or twice —"**

"**A minute —"**

"**All summer —"**

"Ooo nice one." Remus said.

"Why thank you kind sir." Fred said.

"We live to prank and tease." George said.

"**Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.**

"**How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.**

"**Because he's a **_**prefect**_**," said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term — send me an owl when you get there."**

**She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.**

"**Now, you two — this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've — you've blown up a toilet or —"**

"A word to the wise, never give a prankster an idea." Hermione said kindly.

"**Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."**

"Yet." Harry said smiling.

"I never got it either." Ginny muttered. Harry put his arms around her shoulder.

"That's because they found someone more in need, and that someone gave it to George when he needed it most. Why did you think there's a toilet seat hanging on the wall in the store?"

"I'll admit, I thought it was strange there was a toilet seat on the wall next to Fred's picture." Ginny said quietly. Remus heard, at first he thought it was odd that only Fred's picture was mentioned, and why George would hang a toilet seat next to his brother's picture, but then he figured there might not have been any room anywhere else for it.

"**Great idea though, thanks, Mom."**

"**It's **_**not funny**_**. And look after Ron."**

"**Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."**

"I think I'll be safer with someone else. Maybe Harry." Ron said. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville started laughing hysterically.

"Why is that so funny?" Ron asked.

"We'll explain later." Neville said, once he calmed down.

"**Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.**

"**Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"**

**Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking.**

"**You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"**

"**Who?"**

"_**Harry Potter**_**!"**

**Harry heard the little girl's voice.**

"**Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mom, eh please…"**

Both Ginnys blushed.

"I think it's cute." Lily and Molly said.

"I agree." Harry whispered in Ginny's ear, causing her to blush even more.

"**You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"**

"**Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there — like lightning."**

"**Poor **_**dear **_— **no wonder he was alone, I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform."**

"**Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"**

"No." Harry said.

"Yes." Muttered all those from the future, though no one heard but Remus. That one word frightened him, did this mean that Voldemort returned?

**Their mother suddenly became very stern.**

"**I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."**

SMACK!

"OW HERMIONE! What was that for?" Ron yelled.

"Think about that line, and then think about the train ride." Hermione said.

"What are you talking abo – ooooh now I remember. Right. Okay I deserved that." Ron said as realization dawned on him.

"**All right, keep your hair on."** **A whistle sounded.**

"**Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.**

"**Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."**

"**We'll send you a Hogwarts' toilet seat."**

"_**George!**_"

"**Only joking, Mom."** **The train began to move. Harry saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved.**

"Aw that's adorable." James said smiling in the direction of Ginny. So did Harry. Ginny blushed.

**Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He didn't know what he was going to — but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind.**

**The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in.**

"**Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. "Everywhere else is full."** **Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.**

"**Hey, Ron."** **The twins were back.**

"Oh yeah!" James pumped his fist in the air.

"Ignore him Harry; he likes anyone he deems funny." Lily said.

"There's nothing wrong with funny people. Funny people make you smile, and smiling is good for you." Harry said.

"Yes! I win this battle; I have Harry on my side." James said victoriously.

**"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train - Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula**

Both Rons shivered a little. Fred's apology had really helped Ron, but he's starting small which a tarantula is not. Ron on the other hand was reminded of the Acromantula. He would've gotten over his fear of spiders faster if it hadn't been for those damn monsters that were Acromantula.

**down there."**

**"Right," mumbled Ron.**

**"Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."**

**"Bye," said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.**

**"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.**

"Didn't your mother tell you not to ask?" Lily said.

"He took advantage of a technicality. The twins do it all the time. Seems I haven't learned yet." Molly explained to Lily.

**Harry nodded.**

**"Oh - well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got - you know . . ."**

**He pointed at Harry's forehead.** **Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.**

"Ah, the first of many." Harry said.

"Hey, at least I got over the scar quickly." Ron said.

"Am I really famous?" Harry asked.

"You're the wizarding equivalent of Superman." Ron said to him.

"In almost every sense of the word where we come from too." Neville added.

**"So that' where You-Know-Who -"**

**"Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."**

**"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.**

"Nope. Nothing, just green light." Harry said.

"Everything." The five from the future said very quietly. Only Remus heard. This had panicked him even more.

**"Well - I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."**

**"Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.**

**"Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found Ron as interesting as Ron found him.**

**"Er - yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."**

"Why not? What's wrong with him being an accountant?" Lily asked slightly miffed.

"He's a squib, he doesn't talk to us because it's too painful for him, and a reminder of what everyone in his family has that he doesn't. We would talk to him if we could, but he never returns any of our letters and he's moved and we don't know where he's moved to." Charlie explained.

**"So you must know loads of magic already."****The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.**

"OW! Ginny!" Harry said looking at his wife.

"We are not like that." Ginny said.

"I know you're not, but you can't deny that you do come from an old wizarding family." Harry said in his defense.

**"I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"**

**"Horrible - well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."**

**"Five," said Ron. For some reason he was looking gloomy.**

"Hey Harry can I show Ron how to change a diaper?" Ron asked suddenly. Harry stared at him for a second wondering why Ron would choose now to change a diaper, then it hit him.

"Oh, yeah, sure." Harry then handed Ron the toddler and the navy blue diaper bag. Ron stood up and followed his older self out.

WITH THE RONS:

"Why'd we leave?" Ron asked.

"Our complex is about to be revealed. I thought it would go better, for us, if we weren't in the room when it did."

"What complex?"

"Our inferiority complex. That's where we feel that we don't belong, or aren't important enough to anyone. Or when you're compared to someone else, you feel like you aren't good enough." Ron explained. Ron's face fell.

"I feel like that a lot. Sometimes it's not so bad, like when the twins get in trouble for pranking me. But other times it's hard, like when someone gets something new and all I get is hand-me-downs."

BACK AT THE READING:

"Should we wait for them to come back?" Charlie asked.

"No, it's best if we keep reading. But I ask that no one says anything to them when they come back." Harry said.

"Why do you say that Harry?" Remus asked.

"You'll see."

**"I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. **

"Oh." Remus said.

"How could you have possibly figured that out so quickly?" Lily asked she of course figured it out with that line too; it was how her sister made her feel every summer.

"I'm smart." Remus said.

**Bill and Charlie have already left****Bill was head boy****and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. **

"SWEET!" Charlie yelled.

**Now Percy's a prefect.**

Percy knew that he should be excited that he was going to be a prefect, but it didn't feel right, first the twins were making jokes about it, and now it seems as if Ron was unhappy about it too, why couldn't his little brothers be happy for him?

**Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good grades and everyone thinks they're really funny.**

"They don't think they know." James said smiling in the twins' direction. The twins returned the smile only not quite as much. There was just something about the way book Ron said it, it was as if he wasn't happy for them.

**Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal because they did it first.**

"Oh. I understand now." Charlie said sadly. Nobody wants to hear that from his brother.

"My poor Ronnie." Molly said sadly.

"Harry you're his best friend, you gotta tell me, does my baby brother ever grow out of it?" Fred said sadly, and guiltily, all those pranks he had pulled on Ron, and Ron never said anything to Mum or Dad, was this why?

"He's gotta Fred. He's just gotta." George tried to reassure his twin. Bill felt guilty to, how had he not seen it?

"Well Harry does he see what he means to the family? Does he know how much we love him and how special he is?" Percy asked sad too.

"Everyone calm down. Ron no longer has any problems. His complex is gone. However there were some times throughout the years where his complex got in the way, and he did have issues with it for quite a while." Harry said. Everyone calmed down and Charlie kept reading.

**You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat." **

"Scabbers." Ron said happily walking in. Ron, on the other hand groaned.

"I just had to come in the same time that damn rat did." He grumbled to Hermione. Hermione had to hold back a laugh.

"It's not funny. Remember all the hell that rat put us through?" Ron said quietly to Hermione, who then had to hold back even more laughter.

"Just shut up Ron, it's not what you're saying; it's how you're saying it." Hermione said.

"What sort of hell did Scabbers put you through anyway Ron?" Remus asked.

"Damn it. I forgot about Moony's super hearing." Remus smiled cheekily. "You'll find out in books three and seven."

"And four." Harry said.

"Ah yes. How could I have forgotten book four?" Ron asked smiling.

"Yeah lucky you." Harry said broodily.

"No! Harry! Don't do this to me. Snap out of it. Don't you slip into your dark corner, I'm not having it. I will enlist the help of the twins and Moony and Prongs to keep you away from the dark corner. Fight it man fight it." Ron reached over Ginny (He and Hermione switched seats when he sat back down) and started shaking Harry who was fighting a smile.

"Okay, if I smile will you shut up?" He asked Ron.

"Maaaayyyybeee." Ron sang. Harry was now smiling.

**Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep.**

**"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly every wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being a prefect, but they couldn't aff - I mean, I got Scabbers instead." Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window. Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he'd never had any money in his life until month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.**

**". . . and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort -"**

Charlie didn't stutter this time, and now everyone but Molly had pretty much stopped flinching, the twins, Ron, Ginny, only had a strange looking twitch thing going on.

**Ron gasped.**

**"What?" said Harry.**

**"You said You-Know-Who's name!" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed.**

**"I'd have thought you, of all people -"**

**"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the same," said Harry, "I just know you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn. . . . I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."**

Remus started laughing hysterically.

"S-s-s-s-sor s-sorry it it's jus-just n-n-n-no way Ja-" He tried to talk, but every time he said something he laughed even harder, he was crying and red from not breathing. Everyone was looking at him like he was crazy.

"Moony, what the hell is your problem?" James asked, looking at Remus as if he had completely lost his mind. Finally, Remus calmed down enough to talk.

"Sorry, it's just there's no way for Lily, the master of everything but transfiguration where she's second to James, and James, the second runner in every class except transfiguration. Anyway, no child of theirs could possibly be the worst in the class; I was trying to imagine it. The image I came up with was incredibly funny." Lily and James looked at him with a look that said 'seriously? THAT'S what all this fuss was about?' but Remus ignored them.

**"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough." While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.** **Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"** **Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Harry went out into the corridor.** **He had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry but the woman didn't have any Mars Bars. When she did have were Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven sliver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.**

"That's an awful lot to spend on candy." Lily said.

"He's going to share." James said.

"How do you know?" Lily asked.

"He's a nice boy; he'd feel too guilty eating it all in front of Ron without at least offering some to him." James said.

**Ron stared as Harry brought it all back into the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.**

**"Hungry, are you?"**

**"Starving," said Harry taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.**

**Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it there were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."**

**"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on -"**

**"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."**

**"Go one, have a pasty," said Harry, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with.**

"Actually, you used to share with James all the time. And James alone. You never shared with anyone else. He considered not playing with you or feeding you anymore." Remus said laughing.

"Why?" Harry asked a little hurt.

"Because your form of sharing was sticking whatever it was in his mouth. Whenever you got sick, Lily would complain because you'd give whatever you had to James and she's have two sick boys to look after. When you started feeding yourself, apparently it became James' turn to be fed as if he was a baby. If you picked your nose, it had to go in James mouth." Harry and James both made disgusted faces. "Oh that wasn't even the worst one. You once went through a phase where you liked to play with your dirty diapers –"

"That's disgusting Moony!" James said cutting him off, looking mortified. Harry was laughing, as was everyone else, even Dumbledore let out a chuckle. Harry looked disgusted with himself, and then he looked at the toddler that was currently in Ron's lap. He shuddered at the thought of his son doing that to him.

"I wouldn't want to change me either." Harry said still smiling.

**It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Harry's pasties, cakes, and candies (the sandwiches lay forgotten).**

**"What are these?" Harry asked Ron holding up the pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not really frogs are they?" He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.**

**"No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."**

"Hang on." Remus said, and then he started searching his pockets. "Ah-ha found it. Here you go Ron, I completed my collection several times over and I have tons of spare cards." Remus said as he handed Ron a card. Ron looked at it in awe and mumbled thanks.

"Moony, when did you complete your collection the first time?" James asked.

"What day did you leave on?" Remus asked.

"December twentieth."

"What time?"

"I don't know, it was after breakfast I think."

"I'll be bragging to you at lunch." Remus smiled while James just shook his head and muttered something that sounded vaguely like 'chocoholic'.

**"What?"**

**"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know - Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect - famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven' got Agrippa or Ptolemy."** **Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache.** **Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.**

**"So this is Dumbledore!" said Harry.**

"The most popular card." Remus said.

"Not anymore." Ron said smirking.

"Well then who is?" James asked.

"Harry." Said Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Neville.

**"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron.**

**"Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa - thanks -"**

**Harry turned over his card and read:**

_**ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**_

_**Currently Headmaster of Hogwarts. Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times**_**, **_**Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945,**__**for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel.**_

"For the love of Merlin how did we miss that the first time? I mean for Merlin's sake Ron ate enough of chocolate frogs you'd think he would've remembered!" Hermione muttered. Ron looked offended.

"What's she going on about?" James asked.

"Later in the book." Ron and Harry said in unison.

_**Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.**_

**Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.**

**"He's gone!"**

**"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her . . . do you want it? You can start collecting."**

**Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped**

**"Help yourself," said Harry. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."**

"Do they really? How fascinating. Muggles are so interesting aren't they Molly?" Arthur asked enthusiastically.

"Yes dear." Molly responded a bit annoyed; after all, she had to say that quite frequently.

**"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. "**_**Weird**_**!"**

"Channeling dad there, are we Ron?" Ginny asked.

"Be quiet Gin." Ron said quietly, his ears going red.

**Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them.****Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin.****He finally tore his eyes away from the druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.**

"The choice candy of Gryffindors." James said.

"Why's that?" Harry asked.

"You don't know what you're going to get, it could be a good flavor or it could be a nasty flavor, but you still eat them anyway." James explained.

**"You have to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry. "When they say every flavor - you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you get spinach and liver and tripe.****George reckons he had a booger-flavored one once."****Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner.**

**"Bleaargh - see? Sprouts." They had a good time eating the Every Flavor Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to try a funny gray one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper. **

"That's my little Gryffindor." James said.

"What if I'm not in Gryffindor?" Harry asked worried.

"I'll still love you; even if you were a snake I'd love you. The only thing you could do to make me not love you was joining the Death Eaters, they're Voldemort's followers." James said. This impressed Lily since he normally hated all things Slytherin.

"But why would I follow the man who killed my parents?" Harry asked.

**The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting river, and dark green hills.** **There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the found-faced boy harry had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.**

**"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"**

"And in enters Neville." Ron said.

"Back in the good old days. Back when I was still a wimp." Neville said.

"Yeah well that isn't that the case anymore." Harry said.

"Why? What happened?" Bill asked.

"Oh nothing much, fifth year he came out of his shell, and then in seventh year he turned into a badass that saved the entire wizarding world."

"Ron watch your language." Hermione scolded, but Ron ignored her.

**When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"**

**"He'll turn up," said Harry.**

"That's sweet of you Harry.

**"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him . . ."**

**He left.**

**"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."**

"Whatever happened to Scabbers anyway?" Neville asked.

"Third book." Ron said darkly.

**The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.**

"**He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look…"**

**He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.**

"**Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway —**

"Sorry about that Ron, I'll try and be more careful with the wand." Charlie said.

**He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.**

"Well somebody's excited." James said. Hermione blushed.

"**Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.**

SMACK!

"OW! Hermione! How the hell did you manage to reach me from over there? And what was that for?"

"I don't like how I'm described in the book." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, well neither did Ron and you don't see him beating me up." Harry said annoyed.

"**We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.**

"**Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."**

**She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.**

"You'll have to excuse him; he's not used to girls." Percy said.

"Hey, that's my wife you're talking to, which means I'm used to girls. By the way, when do I start liking girls?" Ron asked.

"Sixth book." Ron said.

"Oh please, you had a major crush on Hermione by second year." Harry said.

"Did not." Ron said, his ears going red.

"Based on what Harry told me and what I saw at the burrow, in between your second and third year, I agree with Harry." Ginny said.

"Shut up." Ron said, his ears were incredibly red at this point.

"**Er — all right."** **He cleared his throat.**

"**Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."**

"Yeah, thanks for that George." Ron said, the twins were laughing.

**He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.**

"**Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it?**

"Well, it may not be a good spell but gosh Hermione did you have to be so mean about it?" Ron said in all seriousness, but with a small smile slipping through.

"You prat. You had me going for a second. I suppose you're right though, I could've been nicer about it. I thing that I'll apologize for anything cruel I say over the course of these books."

"We'll forgive you. If." Harry started.

"If?" Hermione asked.

"If you can forgive us for anything we, well mostly me, say that isn't nice." Ron continued Harry's thoughts.

"I suppose I could do that." Hermione said smiling.

**I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart,** **of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?**

"Your future husband apparently." Ron said as if he was still unsure about the likeliness of that happening.

"Your future best friend and brother-in-law." Harry said smiling.

"Oh great, you're acting like James" Lily said. James and Harry beamed at her.

**She said all this very fast. Harry looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart either.**

**"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.**

**"Harry Potter," said Harry.**

**"Are you really?" said Hermione.**

**"I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in **_**Modern Magical History **_**and **_**The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts **_**and **_**Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century**_**."**

"Three books I still haven't read to this day." Harry said smiling.

"**Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed.**

"**Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best;**

"That's only because it's got all the cool people in it." Bill said smiling.

**I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad… Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon." And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.**

**"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron.**

"Ouch, that was mean. But I guess that changed seeing as how we got married, what do you think 'Mione?" Ron said smiling. Hermione just smiled at him.

**He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell — George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."**

"**What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry.**

"**Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw **_**would **_**be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."**

"We'd still love you Ron." Fred said.

"We might prank you more often, but we'd still love you." George said.

"**That's the house Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?"**

"**Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.**

"**You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," said Harry, trying to take Ron's mind off houses.**

"You're so sweet Harry." Lily said.

"By the sound of it, you'll be a good person to have as a friend." Mr. Weasley said. Harry blushed.

"**So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?"** **Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school.**

"**Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, **

"Cool!" Charlie said, interrupting himself.

**and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron.**

"Very cool. What exactly is it I'm doing?" Bill said.

"You're a curse breaker working in Egypt." Ron said.

"**Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the **_**Daily Prophet**_**, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles — someone tried to rob a high security vault."**

"WHAT!" Nearly everyone that wasn't from the future shouted. Dumbledore didn't shout, although he did look troubled.

"Looks like someone beat you to it Harry." Neville said quietly while everyone was shouting so that no one but the others from the future heard it.

"Yeah, only difference is I actually robbed a vault, they just broke in." Harry said smiling.

"Who did it?" James asked.

"That will be revealed at the end of the book, and it won't be who you're going to think it is." Harry said to him.

"Well who's he going to suspect?" Percy asked confused.

"I'd rather save that nasty surprise for later." Harry said with a mysterious smile.

**Harry stared.**

"**Really? What happened to them?"**

"**Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught.** **My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts,**

"Powerful yes, but not necessarily a Dark wizard." Bill said.

"Thank you. Someone understands." Harry blurted out.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Lily said, sounding very much like a mother as she scolds the child for something important. Harry appeared to be at a loss for words and opened his mouth several times, but no sound came out.

"Seventh book." He finally blurted out, although it sounded more like a question.

"Oh no, tell me now."

"Well, Lily, he could, but that would ruin major parts of the last two books, plus it's all about context, it wouldn't make any sense if we explained it to you now without you reading the sixth book and the beginning of the seventh book, otherwise we'd tell you now." Hermione said stepping in for Harry. Lily nodded although she still looked a little skeptical. Harry mouthed 'thank you' to Hermione.

**but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it." Harry turned this news over in his mind. He was starting to get a prickle of fear every time You-Know-Who was mentioned. He supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying "Voldemort" without worrying.**

"No! Don't give in, it's just a name." James told Harry.

"I have a feeling that I don't have a problem with saying the name." Harry said.

"**What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.**

"**Er — I don't know any." Harry confessed.**

"Please tell me that's not the case anymore. Please tell me you know some. Please. Please. I'm begging you." James said desperately to Harry.

"Oh sure I know some."

"Well then what's your favorite?" James asked.

"Well if I actually liked Quidditch, I'd have to say either the Holyhead Harpies or Puddlemere United."

"Why those two?" James asked.

"I'll tell you later."

"**What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world —" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time.**

**Three boys entered, and Harry recognized the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop.**

"No, I didn't want him to come back. I don't like him." Bill said.

"Why not?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"He sounds like a Malfoy." Percy said for him.

"You never know, he might not be a Malfoy." Lily said.

**He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.**

"Which means he heard what your last name is." James said.

"**Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"**

"**Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.**

"That's because they are, or well were." Ginny said.

"**Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."**

"We knew it." Said the majority of the boys.

"What's so wrong with him being a Malfoy, just because his father doesn't like Muggleborns doesn't mean he doesn't like them either." Lily said.

"Oh, trust me on this one; he doesn't like Muggleborns all that much. It comes to light in our second year. But he's gotten somewhat better over the years since our last year at Hogwarts." Hermione said.

**Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.**

"**Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."**

"Never mind, I don't like him anymore." Lily said.

**He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."**

"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself." Harry said to the boy in the book. James gave him a one armed hug.

"A wise decision, maybe it's not so bad if you're half his." Lily said smiling at Harry.

**He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.**

"Ah, the beginning of the animosity that would last a life time." Harry said reminiscently.

"**I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he said coolly.**

"You don't change much in the future." Ron said teasingly.

"I bet you don't either." Harry said just as teasingly.

**Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.**

"**I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents.**

"I would rather go out like my mum and dad than what I would have had I sided with him." Harry said fiercely. James and Lily felt a surge of pride.

**They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."**

"If only he were here, saying something like that." Ginny said angrily.

**Both Harry and Ron stood up.**

"Woo! Go Ron and Harry!" Yelled all the boys and some of the girls, mainly both Ginnys and Hermione.

"**Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair.**

"**Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.**

"You had better believe it. Nobody gets away with saying things against family. Family is the most important thing there is." Ron said defiantly

"**Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron.**

"That's pretty much the definition of bravery." Mr. Weasley said.

"**But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."**

**Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron — Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.**

**Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle**

"That's about the only good thing that bloody rat's ever done for us." Ron muttered darkly.

— **Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.**

**"What **_**has **_**been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.**

**"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No — I don't believe it — he's gone back to sleep." And so he had.**

**"You've met Malfoy before?"**

**Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.**

**"I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"**

**"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"**

"Nope, not this year." Harry and Ron said cheekily to Hermione.

"**Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"**

"**All right — I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice.**

"Well, for the most part they are children; I think it's okay if they behave childishly." James said.

"I know. I get better though. At least I think I do." Hermione said.

"**And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"** **Ron glared at her as she left. Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.** **He and Ron took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron's were a bit short for him, you could see his sneakers underneath them.** **A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."** **Harry's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, he saw, looked pale under his freckles. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.** **The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"** **Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.**

"**C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"**

**Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.**

"**Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."**

**There was a loud "Oooooh!"**

**The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.**

"I love Hogwarts." Lily said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"**No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione.**

"I don't think Ron liked that very much." Remus said.

"You're right, at the time he didn't." Ron said.

"**Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then — FORWARD!"**

**And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.**

"**Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.**

"**Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.**

"**Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. **

"Laugh all you want Ron but whether he loved me or not, I loved him." Neville said.

"Neville, are you familiar with the Muggle phrase 'if you love something, let it go and if it doesn't return it was never yours to start with'?" Ron asked.

"Oh sure I've heard it, I just don't follow instructions well." Neville said grinning.

**Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.**

**They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.**

"**Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"** **Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.**

"And we're done with chapter six. You're up Perce." Charlie said handing Percy the book.


	9. The Sorting Hat

**Here's the next chapter everyone! I want to say thank you to everyone who reviewed, especially to those that told me what they liked or what I could fix. I love all my readers though so don't feel too bad if you haven't reviewed. I love you. Je t'aime. Ich liebe dich. I would say it in sign language, but you wouldn't be able to see it, besides I don't want to appear to be showing off too much. **

**Disclaimer: Alas Harry Potter is not mine.**

* * *

><p><strong>The Sorting Hat <strong>

Percy read.

**The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.**

"Oh well, so much for that." Hermione said looking at Harry and Ron fondly.

"That means you turn out like James doesn't it." Lily said as a statement and not a question.

"**The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.**

"**Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."** **She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.** **They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right — the rest of the school must already be here — but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.**

"**Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts.** **You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.**

"Free time? What is this free time of which she speaks?" Harry asked.

"Something you would know about, had you not been so busy being noble all the time." Neville informed him.

**The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points.**

"Listen to her James; you could learn a lesson or two from her." Lily said.

"Well I guess Harry, Ron, and Hermione missed that little speech." Neville said smiling.

"I guess you and the rest of the D.A. forgot it too then if I remember correctly, after all how many rules were broken then?" Harry responded smiling.

"What is that supposed to mean? Do you guys break a lot of rules? Did you find the-" James said excitedly, but he stopped quickly when he saw Lily glaring at him. Everyone was laughing at him.

**At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.** **The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."** **Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, **

"How did you manage to do that?" Ginny asked Neville.

"I honestly can't remember." Neville told her.

**And on Ron's smudged nose.** **Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.**

"That's not going to work. If it's anything like James' hair." Remus said laughing.

"He- never mind, you're probably right." James said defeated.

"**I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."** **She left the chamber. Harry swallowed.**

"**How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Ron.**

"**Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."** **Harry's heart gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of the whole school? But he didn't know any magic yet —what on earth would he have to do? He hadn't expected something like this the moment they arrived.** **He looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified, too. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need.** **Harry tried hard not to listen to her. He'd never been more nervous, never, not even when he'd had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that he'd somehow turned his teacher's wig blue. He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead him to his doom.**

"Bit dramatic, are we Harry?" Bill said teasingly.

"Oh you have no idea just how dramatic he is." Ron said with a smile.

**Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air — several people behind him screamed.**

"**What the —?"** **He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing.**

**What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance —"**

"**My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost — I say, what are you all doing here?"** **A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.** **Nobody answered.**

"**New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"** **A few people nodded mutely.**

"**Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."**

"**Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."**

**Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.**

"**Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."**

**Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, **

"Ah Seamus" Said all those from the future reminiscently.

**With Ron behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.** **Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in **_**Hogwarts, A History**_**." It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens. Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool, she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house.**

"Can we borrow the sorting hat sometime Professor Dumbledore?" James asked and Remus nodded to show his agreement.

"I'm afraid not my dear boy." Dumbledore said.

_**Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it**_**, Harry thought wildly, that seemed the sort of thing**

"I thought that too." Lily said.

"Me too." Hermione said.

"I don't get it." Ron said.

"It's a Muggle trick. A magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat using magic." Harry told him.

— **noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat began to sing:**

"I'm not singing. I don't like singing." Percy said.

_**Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,**_

_**But don't judge on what you see,**_

_**I'll eat myself if you can find**_

_**A smarter hat than me.**_

_**You can keep your bowlers black,**_

_**Your top hats sleek and tall,**_

_**For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat**_

_**And I can cap them all.**_

_**There's nothing hidden in your head**_

_**The Sorting Hat can't see,**_

_**So try me on and I will tell you**_

_**Where you ought to be.**_

_**You might belong in Gryffindor,**_

_**Where dwell the brave at heart,**_

_**Their daring, nerve, and chivalry**_

_**Set Gryffindors apart;**_

_**You might belong in Hufflepuff,**_

_**Where they are just and loyal,**_

_**Those patient Hufflepuffs are true**_

_**And unafraid of toil;**_

_**Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,**_

_**if you've a ready mind,**_

_**Where those of wit and learning,**_

_**Will always find their kind;**_

_**Or perhaps in Slytherin**_

_**You'll make your real friends,**_

_**Those cunning folk use any means**_

_**To achieve their ends.**_

_**So put me on! Don't be afraid!**_

_**And don't get in a flap!**_

_**You're in safe hands (though I have none)**_

_**For I'm a Thinking Cap!"**_

"That's a much nice song then all of ours." James said.

"Well we do live in a time of peace, so it doesn't have to warn us against anything." Bill said.

**The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.**

"**So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."**

"So Hermione do you still think that divination is rubbish?" Ron said with a straight face looking at Hermione's shocked face.

"You know I completely forgot about that." Harry said.

"What are you guys talking about?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Halloween." The trio said in unison.

**Harry smiled weakly. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but he did wish they could have tried it on without everyone watching.** **The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Harry didn't feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment.** **If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him.**

**Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.**

"**When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!" A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause —**

"**HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.** **The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.**

"**Bones, Susan!"**

"**HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.**

"**Boot, Terry!"**

"**RAVENCLAW!"** **The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.**

"**Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender"** **became the first new Gryffindor,**

Ron looked disgusted. Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and Neville all looked at him amused.

"Why don't you like Lavender, Ron?" Harry asked noticing the look of disgust on his friend's face. Ron too, was looking at his older self with curiosity.

"Well I wouldn't say he doesn't like her; in fact there was a time when he liked her quite a bit which was a bit nauseating to us at the time." Harry said.

"Ah an ex. Understood." Bill said.

**And the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see Ron's twin brothers catcalling.**

"**Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. Perhaps it was Harry's imagination, after all he'd heard about Slytherin, but he thought they looked like an unpleasant lot.** **He was starting to feel definitely sick now. He remembered being picked for teams during gym at his old school. He had always been last to be chosen, not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked him.**

"**Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"**

"**HUFFLEPUFF!"** **Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus,"** **the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.**

"**Granger, Hermione!"** **Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.**

"**GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron groaned.**

"Sorry about that." Ron said.

"We have a blanket apology in place you know." Hermione told him.

"I know but, I'd rather not be sleeping on the couch when we go home so it's best to remind you that I'm sorry." Ron said.

**A horrible thought struck Harry, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous. What if he wasn't chosen at all?** **What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and he'd better get back on the train?** **When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool.** **The hat took a long time to decide with Neville.**

"Why's that Neville?" Ginny asked him.

"Well the hat wanted me to go into Gryffindor, but I didn't feel like I was brave enough to be a Gryffindor and that everyone would be better off if I just went to Hufflepuff."

"Neville, how many times do I have to tell you? You're very brave; you just lack confidence in yourself." Harry said exasperated.

"I know that now. Obviously, I'm brave enough to be a Gryffindor. I mean did you see what I did to that snake. That took guts." Neville said.

**When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."** **Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"**

"Not surprising." James said.

**Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.** **There weren't many people left now. "Moon"…, "Nott"… , "Parkinson"… , then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil"… , then "Perks, Sally-Anne"… , and then, at last —**

"**Potter, Harry!"** **As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.**

"_**Potter**_**, did she say?"**

"_**The **_**Harry Potter?"**

**The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.**

"**Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult.**

"What's so difficult about it put him in Gryffindor like every other Potter." James said.

**Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, A my goodness, yes — and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting…**

"Wow, you could've gone into any house and be fine. But I think you're bravery and daring nerve will put you in Gryffindor." Charlie said.

**So where shall I put you?"**

**Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, **_**Not Slytherin, not Slytherin**_**.**

"**Not Slytherin, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that — no?**

Harry looked nervous. He didn't want to be in the same house as the person that killed his mum and dad, and James said he didn't want Harry to be in Slytherin. Hopefully the hat will put him in another house.

**Well, if you're sure — better be GRYFFINDOR!"**

Harry let out a sigh of relief, but it went unnoticed as the twins, James and Remus had started doing some sort of victory dance as they shouted "WE GOT POTTER! WE GOT POTTER!" Everyone was laughing at the sight, Harry was laughing especially hard for some reason that no one but the people from the future understood.

**Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table. He was so relieved to have been chosen and not put in Slytherin, he hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"**

"Oh now it makes sense." Ron said.

"What makes sense?" Lily asked him.

"Why they were laughing so hard at them." He said pointing at the people from the future.

**Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, giving Harry the sudden, horrible feeling he'd just plunged it into a bucket of ice-cold water.** **He could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs up. Harry grinned back. And there, in the center of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Harry recognized him at once from the card he'd gotten out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts.** **Harry spotted Professor Quirrell, too, the nervous young man from the Leaky Cauldron. He was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban.** **And now there were only three people left to be sorted. "Thomas, Dean," a Black boy even taller than Ron, joined Harry at the Gryffindor table.**

"**Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now.**

**Harry crossed his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"**

"Excellent job Ronnie." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Way to go Ron." James said to him. Everyone else started congratulating Ron too. Ron was smiling hugely, yet he was still uncomfortable with all the new attention.

**Harry clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to him.**

"**Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously across Harry**

"Somebody smack me, I sound like I'm going to be a prat." Percy said.

"Okay." The twins said and they stood up.

"Not now, I meant in the future. Sit back down and stay over there away from me." Percy sounded frightened.

**As "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.** **Harry looked down at his empty gold plate. He had only just realized how hungry he was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago.** **Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.**

"**Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!** **Thank you!" He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.**

**"Is he — a bit mad?" he asked Percy uncertainly.**

"Yes, but all the best people are." Remus said.

"**Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"** **Harry's mouth fell open.** **The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.** **The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry, but he'd never been allowed to eat as much as he liked. Dudley had always taken anything that Harry really wanted, even if it made him sick. Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything except the peppermints and began to eat. It was all delicious.**

"**That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak.**

"**Can't you —?"**

"**I haven't eaten for nearly five hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it.** **I don't think I've introduced myself. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."**

"**I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you — you're Nearly Headless Nick!"**

"Nearly headless? How can he be nearly headless?" Harry asked.

"I think you'll find out soon." Lily said looking slightly sick, as did all the girls who had seen Nick take his head off.

"**I would **_**prefer **_**you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy —" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.**

"_**Nearly **_**Headless? How can you be **_**nearly **_**headless?"**

"Somebody remind me to hurt Seamus when we go back, I didn't need to see that." Hermione said.

"Aw come on it couldn't have been worse than in second year, remember all that nasty food and then there were those ghosts from the headless hunt, say are you alright Hermione you look like you're about to hurl." Ron said.

"Excuse me for a moment." Hermione said and she got up and ran to the bathroom.

"Was it something I said?" Ron said as he got up to follow her.

"What was that about?" Harry asked Ginny as soon as the two of them left.

"Oh let's just say that Hermione has a bit of an announcement to make." Ginny said mysteriously.

"Well in that case, I don't think she would mind if we read the next part without her." Mrs. Weasley said, catching Ginny's hint. Percy shrugged and continued reading.

**Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.**

"That's just an act. He loves freaking out the first years." James said.

"**Like **_**this**_**," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces,**

"See, just an act." James said.

"Nobody disagreed with you, although, I can see why Hermione got sick." Harry said looking disgusted himself. Ron, Ginny, the twins and Percy nodded in agreement all looking slightly disgusted.

**Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "So — new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year. Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable — he's the Slytherin ghost."** **Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood.** **He was right next to Malfoy who, Harry was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.**

"**How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.**

"He never tells anyone. Nobody knows." Remus said disappointedly.

"Really? So you don't know how he got covered in blood?" Harry said cheekily.

"You know? Can you tell us?" James asked excitedly.

"I do, and I could." Harry said. James and Remus looked at him with anticipation. Harry let them stay that way until Hermione and Ron came back a minute later. "But I won't. You'll just have to wait until the seventh book." James and Remus groaned.

"You look awfully happy Ron. What could've possibly been done in the bathroom in such a short amount of time to make you so happy?" Neville asked noticing the goofy smile Ron had on his face.

"Tell you later." Hermione said smiling too.

"**I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.** **When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding…** **As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families.**

"Mmmm treacle tart, oh treacle anything." James said drooling.

"**I'm half-and-half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."** **The others laughed.**

"That's not something to laugh about, Seamus is lucky his dad didn't up and leave." James said snapping out of his treacle-mentioning induced haze.

"I think we were laughing more at how he said it than what was being said." Harry explained.

"**What about you, Neville?" said Ron.**

"**Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville, "but the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages.** **My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me — he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned — but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced — all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy.**

"What? That's horrible!" Mrs. Weasley cried.

"No, it wasn't like that. Gran didn't know the full extent of what Uncle Algie did to get the magic out of me, and Auntie Enid didn't know that he was hanging me out of the window, but Gran was livid when she found out. Uncle Algie wasn't allowed back for months." Neville explained.

**And you should have seen their faces when I got in here — they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."** **On Harry's other side, Percy Weasley and Hermione were talking about lessons**

**("I **_**do **_**hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration,** **you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult —"; "You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing — ").** **Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, **

"Oh no." Remus said.

**A hooked nose, **

"It's not him is it?" James asked desperately.

**And sallow skin.**

"I think it is him isn't it." Remus said looking at James.

"What are you two going on about?" Lily asked. The two just shook their heads and refused to answer.

**It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Harry's eyes — and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead.**

"**Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.**

"**What is it?" asked Percy.**

"**N-nothing."** **The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off was the feeling Harry had gotten from the teacher's look — a feeling that he didn't like Harry at all.**

"If that's who I think it is, then I'm sorry, because it's all our fault he doesn't like you." Remus said sadly.

"**Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy.**

"**Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape.**

"AW COME ON! How the hell did he become a professor? I was hoping it wasn't him but oh no, it has to be him!" James yelled then he started going into a rant about Snape.

"You never know James, he likes me, so he might not mind Harry so much." Lily said.

"No, Harry looks too much like me, Snape's going to hate him before he even sets foot in his class." James said.

"You guys know Snape already?" Bill asked.

"We're the reason he hates everyone." Remus answered.

**He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to — everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."** **Harry watched Snape for a while, but Snape didn't look at him again.** **At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.**

"**Ahem — just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered.** **I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.** **First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."** **Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.**

"We used to get that twinkle, remember Remus?" James said smiling.

"Ah indeed I do." Remus said smiling as well.

"**I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.** **Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.** **And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."**

"Well that's new." Lily said.

"It was only for that year." Harry said dismissively.

**Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did.**

"**He's not serious?"** **he muttered to Percy.**

"**Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere — the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."**

"**And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.** **Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.**

"**Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"**

**And the school bellowed:**

"_**Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,**_

_**Teach us something please,**_

_**Whether we be old and bald**_

_**Or young with scabby knees,**_

_**Our heads could do with filling**_

_**With some interesting stuff,**_

_**For now they're bare and full of air,**_

_**Dead flies and bits of fluff,**_

_**So teach us things worth knowing,**_

_**Bring back what we've forgot,**_

_**just do your best, we'll do the rest,**_

_**And learn until our brains all rot."**_

**Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.**

"Remember when we used to do stuff like that Moony?"

"I'm surprised he actually let them continue the whole song." Remus said.

"**Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"** **The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Harry's legs were like lead again, but only because he was so tired and full of food. He was too sleepy even to be surprised that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries.** **They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Harry was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.** **A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him.**

"Peevesie, oh Peevesie how I miss the pranks we could have played on poor innocent Snakes, but alas I am here to learn about my wonderful son." James said as he gave Harry a one armed hug. Remus started laughing.

"What's so funny Uncle Moony?" Harry asked.

"Innocent Snakes. James you're too much some times." He said in response to Harry's question.

"**Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves — show yourself."** **A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.**

"**Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"**

"Oh at least give him a chance. He's harmless for the most part." Bill said.

"Is not." Neville said bitterly.

**There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.**

"**Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"**

**He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.**

"**Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.**

**Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed.**

"Explains why you don't like him much. You were his favorite target weren't you?" Remus said patting Neville's back.

"**You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."**

**At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.**

"**Password?" she said.**

"**Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it — Neville needed a leg up —**

"Thanks for that by the way." Neville said.

"Anytime. Right Ron?" Harry said. Ron nodded in agreement.

**And found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.** **Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase — they were obviously in one of the towers — they found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pajamas and fell into bed.**

"**Great food, isn't it?" Ron muttered to Harry through the hangings. "Get **_**off**_**, Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets."** **Harry was going to ask Ron if he'd had any of the treacle tart, but he fell asleep almost at once.** **Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much, because he had a very strange dream. **

"I know how that feels mate." Ron said.

"That's because you're a bottomless pit Ron." Hermione said warmheartedly.

**He was wearing Professor Quirrell's turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin at once, because it was his destiny. Harry told the turban he didn't want to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; he tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully — and there was Malfoy, laughing at him as he struggled with it — then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold — there was a burst of green light and Harry woke, sweating and shaking.** **He rolled over and fell asleep again, and when he woke next day, he didn't remember the dream at all.**

"And that's the end of chapter seven. You're next Mr. Potter." Percy said.

"Call me anything but that. Only my old professors call me Mr. Potter." James said as he took the book then he groaned.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading now I have a question to see who belongs in Ravenclaw for being so smart. What is <span>Hermione's<span> announcement going to be based upon what you've read so far. Whoever guesses correctly first will be mentioned in the next chapter's Author's notes, and they will be awarded 10 virtual awesome points. So thanks again and lets see who's smart!**


End file.
